METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING IMAGERY PANNING BASED ON DISPLAYED CONTENT

Systems and methods for navigating imagery, such as geographic imagery, are provided. A user can initiate a pan of the imagery in a viewport presented on a display of a computing device by throwing the imagery in the viewport. The motion of the imagery pan can be controlled based on content displayed in or near the viewport such that the imagery pan is more likely to land near predominate features depicted in the viewport. For instance, features depicted in the viewport can act as "friction" or "gravity" on the imagery pan, adjusting the pan rate and/or pan direction of the imagery as the imagery pans across the viewport. In particular aspects, the motion of the imagery pan can be adjusted based on weights associated with features depicted in or near the viewport. Features with higher weights will affect the motion of the imagery pan more than features with lower weights.