Techniques to manage color representations for a digital map

Abstract

Techniques to manage color representations for a digital map are described. A method may comprise receiving category information having multiple categories defined for a geographic area of a digital map, each of the multiple categories having a category value. The method may further comprise selecting at least one color to represent two or more categories of the multiple categories. The method may still further comprise generating, by circuitry, an annotated digital map, the annotated digital map to comprise the digital map annotated with variations of the at least one color to represent the two or more categories of the multiple categories. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 receiving category information having multiple categories defined for a geographic area of a digital map, each of the multiple categories having a category value;   selecting at least one color to represent two or more categories of the multiple categories; and   generating, by circuitry, an annotated digital map, the annotated digital map to comprise the digital map annotated with variations of the at least one color to represent the two or more categories of the multiple categories.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , comprising selecting a base color for a first category of the multiple categories. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , comprising selecting a color shade for a base color, the base color to represent a first category of the multiple categories, and the color shade of the base color to represent a second category of the multiple categories. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , comprising selecting a first color for a first category of the multiple categories, and a second color for a second category of the multiple categories. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , comprising blending a first color for a first category of the multiple categories with a second color for a second category of the multiple categories to form a blended color to represent both the first and second categories of the multiple categories. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , comprising selecting the at least one color from a color gradient, with one end of the color gradient to represent a maximum value of a category range or multiple category ranges, and another end of the color gradient to represent a minimum value of the category range or multiple category ranges, with intermediate shades along the color gradient scaled based on the maximum and minimum values. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , comprising presenting the annotated digital map on an electronic display. 
     
     
         8 . An apparatus, comprising:
 processor circuitry; and   a map application operative on the processor circuitry to manage a digital map, the map application comprising:
 a map manager component to receive category information having multiple categories defined for a geographic area of a digital map, each of the multiple categories having a category value; 
 a map color component to select at least one color to represent two or more categories of the multiple categories; and 
 a map generator component to generate an annotated digital map, the annotated digital map to comprise the digital map annotated with variations of the at least one color to represent the two or more categories of the multiple categories. 
   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , the map manager component to receive map information for the annotated digital map from a server. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , the map color component to select a base color for a first category of the multiple categories, and a color shade for the base color for a second category of the multiple categories. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , the map color component to select a first color for a first category of the multiple categories, and a second color for a second category of the multiple categories, and blend the first color and the second color to form a blended color to represent both the first and second categories of the multiple categories. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , the map color component to select the at least one color from a color gradient, with one end of the color gradient to represent a maximum value of a category range or multiple category ranges, and another end of the color gradient to represent a minimum value of the category range or multiple category ranges, with intermediate shades along the color gradient scaled based on the maximum and minimum values. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , the map generator component to generate the annotated digital map for a user interface view of an application program. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , comprising a memory unit coupled to the processor circuit, a memory controller coupled to the memory unit, and a communications interface. 
     
     
         15 . At least one computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a system to:
 receive category information having multiple categories defined for a geographic area of a digital map, each of the multiple categories having a category value;   select at least one color to represent two or more categories of the multiple categories;   generate an annotated digital map, the annotated digital map to comprise the digital map annotated with variations of the at least one color to represent the two or more categories of the multiple categories; and   present the annotated digital map on an electronic display.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to select a base color for a first category of the multiple categories. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to select a color shade for a base color, the base color to represent a first category of the multiple categories, and the color shade of the base color to represent a second category of the multiple categories. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to select a first color for a first category of the multiple categories, and a second color for a second category of the multiple categories. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to blend a first color for a first category of the multiple categories with a second color for a second category of the multiple categories to form a blended color to represent both the first and second categories of the multiple categories. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to select the at least one color from a color gradient, with one end of the color gradient to represent a maximum value of a category range or multiple category ranges, and another end of the color gradient to represent a minimum value of the category range or multiple category ranges, with intermediate shades along the color gradient scaled based on the maximum and minimum values.