Method, apparatus and computer program product for providing standard real world to virtual world links

Abstract

An apparatus for providing standard real world to virtual world links may include a processing element configured to receive indications of an image including an object, determine whether the object corresponds to a particular object having a predefined association based on a recognition of the object, and execute a function corresponding to the predefined association in response to the object corresponding to the particular object.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 determining, by a processor, at least one point of interest based, at least in part, on position information of at least one communication device;   presenting the at least one point of interest in an image of a field of view of the at least one communication device; and   determining, by using the processor, an input for selecting the at least one point of interest,   wherein the at least one point of interest is a parking object.   
     
     
         2 . The method of claim I, wherein the parking object has an association with one or more parking related functionalities. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more parking related functionalities include accessing parking information, paying for parking, obtaining access pointers to a parking spot, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 executing the one or more parking related functionalities based on the input.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the one or more parking related functionalities are executed without further operator input. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 identifying the parking object in the image based on the parking object having the association.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the image is captured by a camera of the at least one communication device. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining the position information of the at least one communication device based on a global positioning system (GPS), assisted GPS, communication network signal triangulation, inertial sensing system, or combination thereof.   
     
     
         9 . An apparatus comprising:
 at least one processor; and   at least one memory including computer program code,   the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause a mobile terminal to perform at least the following,
 determine at least one point of interest based, at least in part, on position information of at least one communication device; 
 present the at least one point of interest in an image of a field of view of the at least one communication device; and 
 determine an input for selecting the at least one point of interest, 
 wherein the at least one point of interest is a parking object. 
   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the parking object has an association with one or more parking related functionalities. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the one or more parking related functionalities include accessing parking information, paying for parking, obtaining access pointers to a parking spot, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:
 execute the one or more parking related functionalities based on the input.   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more parking related functionalities are executed without further operator input. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:
 identify the parking object in the image based on the parking object having the association.   
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause at least one communication device to at least perform the following steps:
 determining at least one point of interest based, at least in part, on position information of the at least one communication device;   presenting the at least one point of interest in an image of a field of view of the at least one communication device; and   determining, by using the processor, an input for selecting the at least one point of interest,   wherein the at least one point of interest is a parking object.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the parking object has an association with one or more parking related functionalities. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the one or more parking related functionalities include accessing parking information, paying for parking, obtaining access pointers to a parking spot, or a combination thereof 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one communication device is further caused to perform:
 executing the one or more parking related functionalities based on the input.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the one or more parking related functionalities are executed without further operator input. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one communication device is further caused to perform:
 identifying the parking object in the image based on the parking object having the association.