METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY ASSOCIATING MULTIMEDIA FEATURES WITH MAP VIEWS DISPLAYED BY A COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED ATLAS PROGRAM

A method for automatically assigning multimedia features to map views selected "on the fly" in a computer-based multimedia atlas program. The atlas program allows a user to pan and zoom over the globe so that the map views selected by the user are not necessarily the best-view map of any particular map entity. The multimedia atlas program assigns a "place context" to a selected map view, which identifies and serves as the title of the map. The place context is a particular map entity that has an associated set of multimedia features, such as videos, music, pictures, etc. Control items associated with the multimedia features for the place context are then displayed for selection by the user. A "parent context," which identifies a larger map that the selected map view is a part of, is also assigned to the selected map view. The user may select a parent context control item to cause the control items for selecting the multimedia features for the parent context to be displayed for selection by the user. Selecting the parent context control item may also change the map view to a best-view map of the parent entity.