(12) INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION PUBLISHED UNDER THE PATENT COOPERATION TREATY(PCT)
`
`(19) World Intellectual Property Organization
`International Bureau
`
`6 November 2008 (06.11.2008)
`
`(43) International Publication Date
`
`(10) International Publication Number
`WO 2008/134460 Al
`
`(51) International Patent Classification:
`GO8B 21/02 (2006.01)
`.
`sas
`
`.
`
`(21) International Application Numbererrus2008/064g9
`
`(22) International Filing Date:
`asys
`(25) Filing Language:
`
`25 April 2008 (25.04.2008)
`bedi
`English
`
`English
`
`(26) Publication Language:
`(30) Priority Data:
`US
`25 April 2007 (25.04.2007)
`60/913,894
`US
`26 November 2007 (26.11.2007)
`60/990,113
`(71) Applicant(for all designated States except US): RIO SISA
`IDEA FARM [US/US]; 552 Riverway, Menasha, Wiscon-
`sin 54952 (US).
`>
`(72) Inventors; and
`(75) Inventors/Applicants (for US only): TRINKO, Thomas
`[US/US]; 552 Riverway, Menasha, Wisconsin 54952 (US).
`HAGER,Paul [US/US]; 2016 Melaas Cir., Stoughton,
`Wisconsin 53589 (US). BAXTER, Keith, M. [US/US];
`20850 Macaulay Drive, Brookfield, Wisconsin 53045
`(US).
`
`(74)
`
`Agent: BAXTER,Keith, M.; Boyle Fredrickson, SC, 840
`N. Plankinton Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203 (US).
`
`(81) Designated States (unless otherwise indicated, for every
`kind of nationalprotection available): AE, AG, AL, AM,
`AO, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BH, BR, BW, BY, BZ, CA,
`
`CH. CN, CO, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM, DO, DZ,EC,EE,
`
`EG,ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, GT, HN, HR, HU,ID,
`IL, IN, IS, JP, KE, KG, KM, KN, KP, KR, KZ, LA, LC,
`LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LY, MA, MD, ME, MG, MK, MN,
`MW, Mx, MY, MZ, NA, NG, NI, NO, NZ, OM, PG, PH,
`PL, PT, RO, RS, RU, SC, SD, SE, SG, SK, SL, SM, SV,
`SY, TJ, TM, TN, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, US, UZ, VC, VN,
`ZA, ZM, ZW.
`(84) Designated States (unless otherwise indicated, for every
`kind of regional protection available): ARIPO (BW,GII,
`GM, KE, LS, MW, MZ, NA, SD, SL, SZ, TZ, UG, ZM,
`ZW), Eurasian (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM),
`European (AT, BE, BG, CII, CY, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES,FI,
`FR, GB, GR,HR, HU,IB,IS, IT, LT, LU, LV, MC, MT, NL,
`OLOM on beve SeaMENIeatDy,OG
`,
`,
`,
`GQ,
`,
`>
`,
`°
`,
`,
`).
`.
`Published:
`
`with international search report
`before the expiration of the time limit for amending the
`claims and to be republished in the event of receipt of
`amendments
`
`(54) Titles MOBILE NAVIGATION SYSTEM WITH GRAPHIC CRIME-RISK DISPLAY
`
`
`
`(57) Abstract: A navigation system for mobile use includes street map data used for creating a dynamic map display tracking
`movementof the vehicle and includes crime data used to provide an overlay on the dynamic display indicating a risk of crime to the
`vchicle’s occupants from the surrounding area. Crime data may be harvested from police websites and/or gencrated using statistical
`correlation techniques from other proxy information. Presented crime data indicate crime risk, type of crime, crime date or time of
`occurrence, and linkage to environmental conditions such as type of weather, temperature, and moonlight.
`
`
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`2008/134460AdIIITMIMIINUINUINITINYUATAA
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`wo
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`WO 2008/134460
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`MOBILE NAVIGATION SYSTEM WITH GRAPHIC CRIME-RISK DISPLAY
`
`STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR
`DEVELOPMENT
`
`CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
`
`[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application 60/913,894 filed April
`
`25, 2007 and the U.S. provisional application 60/999,113 filed November 26, 2007 both hereby
`
`incorporated by reference
`
`BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION
`
`[0002] The present invention relates to navigation devices for use by travelers and in particular
`
`to a navigation system which provides the user with a graphic representation ofthe crimerisk in
`
`the immediate environment.
`
`[0003] GPSand other navigation systems for portable use may contain digital maps of specific
`
`areas and may superimposea user's location determined by the GPS on a graphical
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`representation of the map. While the maps used in GPS systems currently are relatively static,it
`
`is also known to provide an ability to download updated or new maps with the GPS system to
`
`keep the loaded map system current, to load new maps for new areas or use wireless or cellular
`
`technology to exchange map information. The maps may include points ofinterest, restaurants,
`
`and other data likely to be useful to the traveler.
`
`[0004] Such systemsare in particular demandby users whoare unfamiliar with the roads in an
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`area, and for this reason are particularly attractive to travelers and offered as a feature in rental
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`cars. A traveler with a GPS system and an updated map, however, may havea false sense of
`
`security based on a knowledgeoftheir location on the map but an ignorance aboutthe safety of
`
`that location.
`
`SUMMARYOF THE INVENTION
`
`[0005] The present invention provides a GPS system that provides a graphical display of the
`
`risk of criminal activity in the area to put a traveler to an unfamiliar city on a more equal footing
`
`with those more familiar with the area. Such data, by giving travelers a more complete picture of
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`their surroundings,can assist the traveler in making informed decisions abouttravel routes,
`
`stopping points, and schedules. The graphical display of criminal activity risk can distinguish
`
`between different types of criminalactivities, the severity of the risk, the geographic scope ofthe
`
`risk, and even the risk as a function of time of day.
`
`[0006] Significantly, the present invention also provides a method of obtaining detailed crime
`
`data on a contemporaneous basis from diverse public sources and for using that crime data for
`
`route planning purposes and informational display.
`[0007] Specifically then the present invention provides a method and apparatus for improving
`traveler safety comprising in which a GPSreceiveris used to obtain substantially real time
`
`location information related to a position of the vehicle holding the GPS receiver. A dynamic
`
`display of a street map following the position of the vehicle using stored street map datais
`together with multiple shaded zones in the dynamic display of the street map, the multiple
`shaded zones depicting the crime data in the locations of the shaded zones using stored crime
`
`data linked to locations. The data mayalso be displayed with points of interest with
`
`accompanying information about crimesin that area.
`[0008] It is thus one object of the invention to provide a traveler who is new to the area a guide
`
`respect to crime dangerassociated with particular locations.
`[0009] The crime data maybe derived from crime data provided on publicly accessible websites
`operated by governmental entities or from publicly available data sources or websites which
`
`collect data from public sourcesor individual reports
`[0010] It is thus another object of the invention to provide a method of obtaining accurate crime
`
`data in a cost-effective manner.
`
`[0011] The crime data maybe derived from non-crime data correlated to crime data provided on
`
`publicly accessible websites
`[0012] It is thus another object of the invention to provide for proxy crime data for areas where
`
`crime date is not currently collected by governmental entities. Use of other information which
`
`has a provenlink to crime rates may be used.
`
`[0013] The crime data may include severity of crime and a shading of the shaded zones maps to
`different degrees of crime severity. Theshadingmay be implimented by a density of POI markers
`
`(point of interest) depending on the density of crime.
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`[0014] It is thus an object of the invention to allow the user to makea personalizedrisk
`
`assessment.
`
`[0015] The crime data may be linked to time of day and the multiple shaded zones may depict
`the crime data only for a current predetermined time range. The crime data and map overlays
`
`may change color schemesto reflect the crime within that time of day.
`[0016] It is thus an object of the invention to provide a realistic indication of crimethat
`
`distinguishes between day and night time crimerates.
`[0017] The crime data maybefurther linked to date and the multiple shaded zones may depict
`
`the crime data only for a current range ofdates.
`[0018] It is thus an object of the invention to provide an accurate assessment of seasonal type
`
`crimes.
`
`[0019] The crime data may further be linked to environmental conditions includingat least one
`
`of: air temperature, phase of the moon,precipitation and wherein the multiple shaded zones
`depict the crime data only for corresponding environmental conditions.
`[0020] It is thus an object of the invention to improvethe predictive powerof the crime
`
`assessmentby considering factors other than location
`[0021] The shaded zones provide a shading reflecting an aerial density of a particular crime
`
`type.
`[0022] It is thus an object of the invention to provide a multidimensionalportrayal of crimerisk.
`[0023] The street map mayidentify limited access highways and the shading of the shaded
`
`zones may exclude a predetermined distance from limited access highways.
`[0024] It is thus an object of the invention to reflect the lowerrisks to a traveler of traveling
`
`along a limited access highway to a high crime zone.
`[0025] The street map magnification may be reduced when crimestatistics are displayed to
`
`provide for any meaningfulstatistical crime sample.
`[0026] It is thus an object of the invention to provide an accurate representation of crimerisk to
`
`unsophisticated users.
`[0027] These and other object of the invention may apply to only some embodiments described
`
`herein and thus should not be used to define the scope of the invention.
`
`[0028] Often on location based devices each road segmentis given a unique code used for
`routing purposes. The invention also provides the ability to establish a threshold for whatis
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`unsafe and code each road segment as a 0 or 1 (or someother flag) to indicate whetherthat road
`is safe. In this way safety based routing can be determined and a user can be presented with the
`option to take the most safe route or when routing be presented with the information that their
`route would take the person through areas with high crime.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`[0029] Fig. 1 is a simplified figure of a display of a GPS device per the present invention
`showing by shaded areas a graphical representation all of criminalrisk;
`[0030] Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the components of the GPS system of Fig. 1 including map
`
`and crime data memories;
`[0031] Fig. 3 is a figure similar to that of Fig. 1 showing the GPSdisplay at a first time of day;
`[0032] Fig. 4 is a figure similar to that of Fig. 3 showing the GPS display at a later time of day,
`
`and
`
`[0033] Fig. 5 is a set of graphical representationsofthe transformation of point crime data into
`
`the crime mappingof the present invention;
`[0034] Fig. 6 is a flow chart showingstatistical developmentall of crime data from crime
`
`proxies;
`[0035] Fig. 7 is a block diagram of an extraction system for collecting comprehensive crime
`
`data on a real-time basis;
`[0036] Fig. 8 is a flow chart of the program executed bythe extraction system of Fig. 7;
`[0037] Fig. 9 is a flowchart of a map creator program used with the extraction system ofFig.7;
`[0038] Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram ofa shape file created by the map creator program of Fig.
`
`9;
`[0039] Fig. 11 is a figure similar to that of Fig. 1 showing accommodation oflimited access
`highwaysin the display of the present invention; and
`[0040] Fig. 12 is a flowchart of a program using the crime data developed by the present
`
`invention for route planning purposes.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
`
`[0041] Referring now to Fig. 1, a mobile navigation device 10 of a type that may be mountedin
`a car or the like may provide a housing 12 supporting one or more user controllable buttons 14
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`on the side of a color graphic display 16. As is generally understoodin the art, the display 16
`may depict a map showingstreets 18 and a cursor 20 showingthe location ofthe vehicle. The
`orientation of the streets may change to show the direction oftravel of the vehicle according to
`standard conventions, for example, the direction oftravel being vertical on the display 16.
`[0042] The present invention may further providefor a first and second zone of shading 22 and
`24 superimposed on the map and depicting a measure of the crimein the vicinity of the cursor
`20. The shading may be different brightnesses, colors, or highlighting, a density of points (either
`randomly placed or each indicating a crime), or simply boundary markings accordingto
`techniques well knownin the art and maycoverparticular streets 18 (to be visually in front of
`the street) or be covered bythestreet (to be visually behind the street) reflecting the degree to
`whichthe crimerisk indicated by the shading affects those on thestreet.
`[0043] For example, a local street 18a might be covered by shading 22 denoting a likelihood of
`auto theft. This is because auto theft would affect anyone parking on the localstreet 18a.
`Conversely, a limited access highway 18b maybe positioned visually in front of the shading 22
`denoting a likelihood of auto theft, because travelers on the highway 18b would not be
`susceptible to problemsof auto theft. A shading 24 denoting weapon crimes, on the other hand,
`might coverlimited access highway 18b to the extent that such activity reflects a more
`significant risk to highwaytravelers.
`[0044] Referring now to Fig. 2, the mobile navigation device 10 may employstandard GPS
`electrical architecture including a GPS receiver 30 communicating with a microcontroller 32
`executing a standard operating system program. The GPSreceiver may receive a GPS signals
`through a GPS antenna 34 andrelay position information and time informationto the
`microcontroller 32. The microcontroller 32 may in turn control the display 16 to output the map
`of Fig. 1, for example, according to map data 36 held in a memory 37 and according to the time
`and position information from the GPS receiver 30. The microcontroller 32 may also include an
`antenna 35, or a socket 39 for standard memorycard 38,or other media input allowing
`downloading of map data 36 and crimerisk data 41 into the mobile navigation device 10.
`[0045] This crimerisk data 41, as will be described, provides data compatible with the map data
`36 to produce the shadings 22 and 24 described above. In particular the crime risk data 41 may
`provide for geographic coordinates demarcating zones of crimerisk represented by areas of the
`shading 22 and 24, crimerisk types represented by colors, textures, or brightness of the shading
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`22 and 24, and crimerisk severity also represented by colors, textures or brightnesses or images.
`
`Different crime risk data 41 for a given location may be keyedto different times during the day,
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`for example, business hours and after the business hours as will be described below.
`Alternatively or in addition the crime risk may be keyed to dates or ranges of datesto reflect
`seasonal variations, for example, weatheror tourist influx. Alternatively, when the crime data is
`
`collected it may be linked to environmental conditions such as air temperature, phase of the
`moon,precipitation, local terrain, or land use including zoning. For GPS systemsthat provide
`updated weather information be presented crime data may be adjusted to conform to those
`current environmental conditions. The crime risk types may include and distinguish among,for
`
`example, auto theft, assaults against persons, drug arrests, traffic violations such as speeding, and
`the like. In addition non-crime data proxies may be provided such as population density, average
`
`income, density of government buildings and police stations, and thelike.
`[0046] Referring now to Fig. 3, the keying of crime data to different times of the day allows the
`display 16 to provide for different crime shadings 22 and 24 depending on the time derived from
`a clock of the GPS receiver 30. For example, during business hours, as shown in Fig. 3, a crime
`
`zone of shading 22 might be fairly isolated representing streets that are not main thoroughfares
`or the like, whereas at a later time, for example, after the normal business day, crime zone of
`
`shading 22 may increase and a new zoneofcrime shading 24 may appear. The user may be
`given a feature allowing them to accelerate the clock to look at the transition of crime during the
`day in animated form. In one display mode, the animation may cycle through the current day
`with a depiction ofthe time of day so as to give the user an indication of changes in crime
`
`patterns that they may experiencein thatarea.
`[0047] Referring now to Fig. 5, crime data may be obtained from a variety of public sources,
`generally as crime points 40, 42 or 43 where a given crime will be identified as to type, time of
`day and date, and location on a geographic grid 44. This data mayretained as point data
`indicating an incident of a crime type (for example through color) and its location, or may be
`
`turned into areal crime shadings 22 and 24 through theuse ofa first two-dimensional
`
`convolution kernel 46 applied to each crime point 40, 42 and 43 (only crime point 42 shown for
`clarity) where the two-dimensional convolution kernel 46 is aligned with each transportation
`corridor 50 on the grid 44 reflecting a general propensity of crime risk to travel with people
`along transportation corridors. In this case, a simple two-dimensional Gaussian curve may be
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`used as the convolution kernel 46 reflecting a general fall off of crime as one moves away from
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`the crime scene. A sum ofthe results of the two-dimensional convolution kernel 46, applied to
`
`each crime point 40 42 and 43, for each transportation corridor 50, may then be modified by a
`general blurring convolution kernel 52 which provides a smooth continuity of crime risk over
`broader area. The height of the surface created after the convolution by kernel 52 may be
`represented by iso-crime lines 54 assigning both spatial extent and risk to each particular crime
`
`type.
`[0048] As will be understood, a crime map 56 is created from the iso-crime lines 54 and stored
`in the mobile navigation device 10. A crime shading 22 or 24 can then be created by applying a
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`predetermined threshold to the crime map including the area within iso-crime lines 54 greater
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`than or equal to this threshold. Typically this threshold will be set by the manufacturer but may
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`be adjusted bythe userto allow their risk propensities to be respected.
`[0049] In cases where the crime data is sparse at the given magnification of the map, invoking
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`the crime data it may cause a zooming outall the map to a resolution were meaningful crime
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`statistics can be displayed. The user mayset the thresholds for the amount of crimerisk to be
`displayed and the types of crime to be displayed, for example opting to show only severe crime
`risks or crimerisks key to the current time of day, range of dates, or environmental conditions.
`The user may opt to view only actual crime data or actual crime data and crime data derived
`
`from proxy sets as will be described.
`[0050] The crime maps of 56 may be updated periodically and provided to subscribers to give
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`them ongoing indications of possible risks.
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`[0051] Referring now to Fig. 6, not all jurisdictions provide crime data and there may be some
`
`situations where crime data provided bya particular area is suspect or incomplete. In these cases
`the user maystill be provided with crime shadings 22 and 24 byusinga statistical process in
`which more readily available data termed "proxy sets" 60 are collected for various geographical
`regions. These proxy sets may include, for example, standard census data including population
`density and incomeranges, and may be augmented with commercially available data such as
`homeprices, loan defaults, insurance claims, and the like. Without the need to understand the
`sociological implications of this demographic data, the proxy sets 60 may be correlated to known
`crime data 62 for the same regions by a correlation process 64 of type well known in theart to
`producea set of correlation rules 66 relating one kind of data to the other. For example, through
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`standard regression, a formula may be developed equating the proxy set with particular crime
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`risk. These correlation rules 66 may be applied to proxy sets 68 of other jurisdictions having
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`unknownor suspect crime data to develop synthesized crime data 70 that maystill provide the
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`user with some guidance in areas where there would otherwise be no guiding data.
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`[0052] Referring now to Fig. 7, the collection of high-resolution crime data providing time
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`place and crimetype as is necessary to produce the present invention is hampered by two
`
`significant factors. First, in the United States, and in most countries, police activityis
`exclusively in the hands of local governments who therefore hold the exclusive right to the
`
`operation of a police force and the collection and dissemination of crime data. Such government
`entities operate outside of the private sector and can be indifferent to market demandsto provide
`comprehensive and accessible crime data. The control of this data by local governmentalentities
`can also create a disincentive to make crime data freely and easily available if that data may
`
`reflect poorly on local communities. These factors are reflected in the wide variety of different
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`websites reporting crime data in a tabular form that requires entry of specific addresses before
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`data will be released.
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`[0053] Accordingly, the present inventors have developed an extraction system 72 operating
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`over the Internet 74 to interact with various different crime-reporting sites 76a-76c in the manner
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`of an individual user capable of adapting to idiosyncratic user interfaces and of augmenting data
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`as necessary. The extraction system 72 collects data and compiles it into a comprehensive view
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`of the crime situation in a particular area.
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`[0054] Alternatively some governmental agencies would like to provide their crime data in a
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`more graphical format but lack the resources or knowledge. Accordingly the present invention
`
`may involvethe ability to allow localities to upload or transmit crime data in a variety of formats
`
`to the data extraction mechanism. In this way both current data and currently unavailable data
`
`may be addedto create a more comprehensive system which covers a more broad geography.
`
`[0055] In a preferred embodiment, the extraction system 72 comprises a Web connected
`
`computer 78 having a browser 80 executing a gathering program 82. The gathering program 82
`employees a Web addresslist 84 holding URLsofthe particular websites 76a-76c through which
`this data is provided. The gathering program 82 further includesa set of scripts 86 uniquely
`identified to one website 76 and that provides set of steps for iteratively extracting a full set of
`
`data from the particular website 76. The crime data extracted from the website is stored ina
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`If
`uniform format in a database 88 that may be also implemented on the extraction system 76.
`the website requires authorization to access the database of information, login information can be
`extracted from the page by searching for text after the terms “user” and “password”if that cannot
`be foundthe server will check for a passwordto thesite stored in the database. Alternatively if
`the website requires authorization or password whichis protected by requiring a user to respond
`to a CAPTCHA.In this case cither a user can oversee any CAPTCHAeachtimethe server runs
`the gather processor alternatively the page with the CAPTCHAcan besent to a Amazon (or
`other company) providing a "Mechanical Turk" program where human operators are paid small
`amounts of money to do simple tasks that are difficult of a computer. In this mannerthe gatherer
`can function without direct user intervention by the server administrator. Or a server
`administrator may be requiredto assist the gatherer in obtaining the information. The gathering
`program mayfurther be presented with graphical data which would then haveto be interpreted
`by a human to codeit properly. The gathering program may download the image and use
`software utilizing Optical Character Recognition to interpret the data on the screen and codeit
`properly. The gatherer mayalso face instances where scraping from the screenis difficult
`becausethe data runs off the page and requiresscrolling, in this instance the gatherer would take
`an imageof the page, or detect the page width and length and make a determination on how far
`
`to scroll and then re-scrape the screen for information.
`[0056] A map generation program 90 converts the data of the database 88 into the desired map
`formats and may download them again over the Internet 74 to particular users of GPS devices
`
`92.
`
`[0057] Referring nowto Fig. 8, the gathering program 82 may begin operation as indicated by
`process block 94 by contacting an individual website (for example 76a) identified for example by
`the first web address on Web addresslist 84. At succeeding process block 96, the gathering
`
`program 82 executesthe particular script 86 necessary to extract the data from that websites 76a.
`Thescript 86 will typically execute repeatedly as indicated by arrow 98, for example, entering in
`each address on a given street to check the occurrence of crimeat that address, ifnecessary. The
`scripts 86 will be customized to the particular websites 76 to extract crime type, crimelocation,
`
`and crime time.
`
`[0058] At succeeding process block 100, additional data may be addedto the extracted data
`from the script 86 itself to provide a completepicture of the crime incidents. Mosttypically,this
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`added data will be a city and a state which are normally implicit in the data of the particular
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`website 76 but not contained per se in the data output from that website 76. As noted, data is
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`then formatted in a consistent form and provided to a geocoder 102, being a website that will
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`take a street address and converted to a longitude andlatitude value per process block 104. At
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`the conclusion ofthis process, a data structure will be obtained and stored in the database 88 as
`
`indicated in the following Table 1.
`
`
`
`
`
`Table 1
`
`
`
`Square
`
`
`
`111 E
`Milwaukee} WI nos43.meh ALL OTHERsorohreeecey10/16/2007)
`34
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`SAddress|GrimeDes
`
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`City (State|ap CrimeCode
`
`
`
`
`
`WISCONSIN
`08:11 AM
`87.909517
`ALL OTHER LARCENY 10/16/2007)
`31
`HIG E
` |Milwaukee| WI
`[532 243.053092,
`
`
`87.896512
`
`
`
`THEFT FROM MOTOR 10/17/2007);
`|5320243.058249,
`11:11 PM
`VEHICLE
`
`87.891785
`
`ALL OTHER LARCENY 10/18/2007;
`34
`Milwaukee} W1 (5320235.644868,
`
`
`
`88.8571 65
`
`BRADY ST
`
`2066N /|Milwaukee| WI
`
`
`
`
`
`09:10 PM
`
`5
`
`22
`
`3:11 AM
`
`CAMBRIDGE
`33ON
`JACKSON
`ST #233
`
`
`
`[0036] This data structure provides a particular address of a crime andthecity, state, and
`
`(optionally) zip code, shownin the first through fourth columns. This information, when fed to
`the geocoder, provides a longitude and latitude value shownin the fifth column. A crime codeis
`usually extracted from the website which provides a coding according to a standard FBI coding
`schemeor a variant on this scheme implemented by variouslocalities. The script 86 translates
`
`these locally implemented codesinto a standard FBI coding schemeandstores the code and a
`written description at columns 6 and 7. The date and time of the crime is also obtained and
`stored at column 8 to provide data specific to different seasons or times of the day. Whether data
`
`and almanacs may be consulted to add in information about environmental conditions for
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`example air temperature, phase of the moon,precipitation that may improve the predictive power
`of the crime data whenit is displayed. Thus, for example, when there is a new moonat night
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`crime data mayincrease for some types of crime.
`[0037] The program 82 next calculates a UTM grid value, as will be described below,
`identifying a regular region (e.g. a grid square) in which the crime occurred. This is indicated by
`process block 106 and addedto the data structure at column9.
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`[0038] At process block 108, after all the data is extracted from a given website 76a, the nextsite
`in the list 84 is accessed andthis process is repeated. The extraction system may operate at
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`regular intervals during the day preferably at times of low Internet use.
`[0039] Referring now to Fig. 10, a crime map maybe generated from the data structure of Table
`1 by dividing the world into regular polygons, in this case squares having a width and height of
`.005° of longitudeor latitude or any size block depending on the granularity which isdesired.
`The mappingto the grid described with respect to process block 106 above, then simply
`determines whethera particular crime incident 110 occurred within a particular UTM square
`112, each UTM square 112 having a unique identifier 114. This mapping is precalculated at
`process block 106 for greater speed in map generation or done atthis time for greater flexibility
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`in determining types and times ofcrime.
`[0040] Referring now to Fig.9, the generation of a map may be performed on demand beginning
`at process block 115 where, for example, according to a user request, the data of the database 88
`is sorted by map generation program 90 to obtain crimestatistics in a particular area of the world
`(for example, as defined by a set of UTM numbers)at a particular time and date range. The date
`range may be dynamically adjusted to obtain a statistically significant sampling of data for the
`crime map weighting which is most current. In this respect, the data may span more than one
`year, for example, for seasonal data, looking at comparable seasonal crime during previous years
`to establish a trend line used to establish current crime values.
`
`[0041] At process block 116, the sorted data, in one embodiment, is then used to populate a grid
`of UTM squares 112 within in area to the desired map. The numberof crime incidents in each
`UTM square 112 is then mappedto a colorfor the square, for example, green shades indicating
`relatively low crime rates and red shadesindicating relatively high crime rates according to
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`standard mapmaking conventions.
`[0042] The color valuesall the UTM squares 112 are then assembled to create a shape file in a
`vector format defining polygons having vertices and a particular translucent shading value as
`determined by the numberof crime incidents 110. This shape file creation is indicated at process
`block 118. The shape file may then be downloaded,as indicated by process block 120 to a GPS
`user and provides an overlay on existing maps already held in the GPS device and in a format
`
`that may be readily interpreted by most GPS systems.
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`[0043] Referring nowto Figs. 8 and 9, the shape file created at process block 118 may include a
`margin 122 around limited access highways 124 reflecting the fact that local crimestatistics
`usually do not affect high-speedtraffic on busy highways that may go through those
`neighborhoods. This margin 122 mayincreaseas the scale of the map is increasedto provide a
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`visual indication of this feature for travel planning.
`[0044] Referring to Fig. 12, the present invention also provides a method of incorporating crime
`data, as described above, into the route planning process. Using the database 88 developed
`
`above with respect to Fig. 8, travel planning program 130, such as may operate on a computer
`similar to that described in Fig. 7, may use standard routing techniques per process block 132 to
`identify a shortest route between two points identified by the user. At process block, 134 that
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`route is traversed point by point per process blocks 136-144.
`[0045] If the user has identified a starting time, then as the route is traversed, that time is updated
`per process block 136 by regular increments and a location along the route determined at process
`block 138 using knownstatistics on road type or averagetraffic velocity. Ifthe user has not
`identified a starting time an arbitrary time of zero is selected and the time of occurrence ofthe
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`crimesis ignored.
`[0046] At decision block 140, it is determined whether,at the particular location determined by
`process block 138, the route is on a limited access highway. If so, the program 130, loops back
`to process block 136 to continuetraversal of the route. If at decision block 140 the useris not on
`a limited access highway, but instead on a local road, th