IMAGE EXTRACTION AND IMAGE-BASED RENDERING FOR MANIFOLDS OF TERRESTRIAL AND AERIAL VISUALIZATIONS

• US 20140362108A1
• Filed: 03/14/2014
• Published: 12/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Aguera-Arcas, Blaise Hilary
• Granted Patent: US 9,786,075 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/629
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 13/80 2D [Two Dimensional] animation, e.g. using sprites
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/205 Image-based rendering
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/005 Tree description, e.g. octree, quadtree
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/08 involving all processing steps from image acquisition to 3D model generation

Abstract

Architecture that extracts (analyzes and selects) a set of images from repositories or sources imagery to create one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) image manifolds (or image packets—also referred to as “synth” packets). The repositories of map imagery can include aerial views and terrestrial views (from points on the earth surface). The manifolds facilitate fluid translation between manifold images thereby providing a fluid user interactive navigation experience for viewing the location.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

an extraction component configured to extract images related to a location, from image sources that include at least one of structured aerial-based image sources or structured ground-based image sources based on the location;

a formatting component that formats the extracted images from the image sources into a suitable format for a visualization template;

a template component configured to enable arrangement of the extracted images according to the visualization template, the visualization template enables translation between the images via a viewer; and

at least one microprocessor configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored in a memory and associated with the extraction component, the formatting component, and the template component.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the visualization template represents a street-level view of the location based on street-level shots extracted from the structured ground-based image sources.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the visualization template represents an aerial view of the location based on aerial shots extracted from the structured aerial-based image sources.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the extraction component is configured to extract perspective images of forward shots and side shots from a panorama image.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the visualization template enables the perception of image changes in time and space via the viewer.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the visualization template is from a graph-based set of visualization templates.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the visualization template enables the play of time information that corresponds to navigation through the images of the visualization template.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the template component creates a graph of spatially-related packets of templates obtained from a map and structured hierarchically for interactive transitions between the packets.

9. A method, comprising acts of:

selecting a one-dimensional or a two-dimensional visualization template by which to render a location for interactive navigation;

extracting images related to the location from image sources for use with the selected template;

arranging the images according to the selected template to enable translation between the images; and

enabling rendering of the visualization template of images for user interactive navigation of the location via the images.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising creating photorealistic transitions between multiple content types of the images according to the visualization template.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising formatting image content to be compatible with the template, which is a graph-based photograph template.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising formatting image content from sources that comprise structured aerial images, structured ground-based images, and crowd-sourced images.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising rendering the images of the visualization template in correspondence to time of day.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising extracting the images from three-dimensional image collections.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising enabling rendering of the visualization template as one of a panorama, wall, walk, and a spin.

16. A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions that when executed by a microprocessor, cause the microprocessor to perform acts of:

extracting images from three-dimensional collections of images;

formatting the extracted images for utilization in visualization templates that include one-dimension templates and two-dimension templates;

arranging the images according to the visualization templates to enable translation between the images of a visualization template in response to an interaction;

creating a graph-oriented map that links the visualization templates; and

enabling interactive visualization of a location based on rendering of a visualization template of the map.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprising enabling a street-level interactive map visualization of the location or an aerial-level interactive map visualization of the location.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprising identifying features of the location and selecting a visualization template based on the features.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprising mapping a given template to an axis of a display.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprising navigating between the linked templates in response to an interactive tapping, movement beyond a template edge, or movement orthogonal to the template.