Systems and methods for processing images with edge detection and snap-to feature

• US 8,823,732 B2
• Filed: 12/17/2010
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pictometry International Corporation (EagleView Technologies Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Pictometry International Corporation (EagleView Technologies Incorporated)
• Inventors: Adams, Steven Douglas, Wang, Yandong, Giufrrida, Frank D.
• Primary Examiner(s): AMIN, JWALANT B
• Application Number:
  US12/972,088
• Publication Number:
  US 20120154446A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,355 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 345/619
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/50 of still image data
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30184 Infrastructure
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/153 using elastic snapping
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/12 Edge-based segmentation

Abstract

A method for creating image products includes the following steps. Image data and positional data corresponding to the image data are captured and processed to create geo-referenced images. Edge detection procedures are performed on the geo-referenced images to identify edges and produce geo-referenced, edge-detected images. The geo-referenced, edge-detected images are saved in a database. A user interface to view and interact with the geo-referenced image is also provided such that the user can consistently select the same Points of Interest between multiple interactions and multiple users.

Claims

1. A method of providing images to a user, comprising the steps of:

providing a sequence of instructions for storage on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium and for running on a computer system capable of displaying and navigating digital imagery, the sequence of instructions comprising;

instructions for causing the computer system to download and display a pixel representation of one or more of the geo-referenced, edge-detected images, wherein the pixel representation includes one or more detected edges;

instructions for causing the computer system to allow a user to select one of the one or more detected edges by moving a cursor over the pixel representation, wherein the cursor is caused to snap-to a selected detected edge when the cursor is within a predetermined distance from the selected detected edge;

instructions for causing the computer system to allow the user to accept the selected detected edge as an edge of interest; and

instructions for causing the computer system to allow the user to determine and store a point of interest along the edge of interest;

capturing image data and positional data corresponding to the image data;

storing a database of captured images having corresponding geo-location data and corresponding detected edge data;

receiving a selection of a geographic point from a user;

searching the database to find images that contain the selected geographic point; and

making the images that contain the selected geographic point available to the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer system comprises a personal computer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium further comprises instructions for causing the computer system to magnify a user-requested region of interest from the displayed pixel representation of the geo-referenced image, and to allow the user to select one of the one or more detected edges from within the magnified user-requested region of interest.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium further comprises instructions for causing the computer system to display, geolocate and make measurements based on the captured image data and positional data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the captured image data are oblique images.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium further comprises instructions for causing the computer system to display a magnification of a user-requested region of interest as a subsection of the pixel representation such that a full image is displayed along with a magnified region of interest.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the magnification of the user-requested region of interest is linear.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the magnification of the user-requested region of interest is non-linear.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium further comprises instructions for causing the computer system to hold the cursor at the selected detected edge until the user has indicated acceptance or rejection of the selected detected edge as an edge of interest.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium further comprises instructions for causing the computer system to indicate, mark and store the edge of interest on the image.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium further comprises instructions for causing the computer system to indicate, mark and store the point of interest on the image.

12. A sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium for running on a computer system capable of displaying and navigating digital imagery, the sequence of instructions comprising:

instructions for causing the computer system to display a pixel representation of a geo-referenced, edge-detected image, wherein the pixel representation includes one or more detected edges in the geo-referenced, edge-detected image;

instructions for causing the computer system to allow the user to select one of the one or more detected edges by moving a cursor over the pixel representation, wherein the cursor is caused to snap-to a selected detected edge when the cursor is within a predetermined distance from the selected detected edge;

instructions for causing the computer system to allow the user to accept the selected detected edge as an edge of interest; and

instructions for causing the computer system to allow the user to determine and store one or more points of interest along the edge of interest.

13. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 12, wherein the computer system comprises a personal computer.

14. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 12, further comprising instructions for causing the computer system to magnify a user-requested region of interest from the displayed pixel representation of the geo-referenced, edge-detected image, and to allow the user to select one of the one or more detected edges from within the magnified user-requested region of interest.

15. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 12, further comprising instructions for causing the computer system to display, geolocate and make measurements based on geo-referenced, edge-detected images.

16. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 12, wherein the geo-referenced, edge-detected images comprise oblique images.

17. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 12, further comprising instructions for causing the computer system to display a magnification of a user-requested region of interest as a subsection of the pixel representation such that a full image is displayed along with a magnified region of interest.

18. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 17, wherein the magnification of the user-requested region of interest is linear.

19. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 17, wherein the magnification of the user-requested region of interest is non-linear.

20. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 12, further comprising instructions for causing the computer system to hold the cursor at the selected detected edge until the user has indicated acceptance or rejection of the selected detected edge as an edge of interest.

21. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 12, further comprising instructions for causing the computer system to indicate, mark and store the edge of interest on the image.

22. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 12, further comprising instructions for causing the computer system to indicate, mark and store the one or more points of interest on the image.

23. A system for preparing and utilizing geo-referenced images, the system comprising:

one or more image and data files accessible by a computer system capable of displaying and navigating digital imagery, the image and data file including a plurality of image files, detected edge information corresponding to the plurality of image files, and positional data corresponding to the plurality of image files; and

image display and analysis software stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the computer system to cause the computer system to;

allow a user to download and display, from the image and data file, a pixel representation of an image having a plurality of detected edges within the image, and to select a detected edge within the pixel representation by moving a cursor over the pixel representation, wherein the cursor is caused to snap-to a selected detected edge when the cursor is within a predetermined distance from the selected detected edge;

allow the user to accept the selected detected edge as an edge of interest; and

allow the user to determine and store one or more points of interest along the edge of interest.

24. The system of claim 23, further comprising edge detection software stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by a computerized system to cause the computerized system to perform edge detection procedures on a plurality of image files to provide a plurality of edge-detected image files for storage on the image and data file.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the computer system comprises a personal computer.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein the image display and analysis software includes instructions for causing the computer system to magnify a user-requested region of interest from the displayed pixel representation of the geo-referenced image, and allow the user to select one of the one or more detected edges from within the magnified user-requested region of interest.

27. The system of claim 23, wherein the image display and analysis software further includes instructions for causing the computer system to display, geolocate and make measurements based on the image data and positional data.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the image data are oblique images.

29. The system of claim 23, wherein the image display and analysis software further includes instructions for causing the computer system to display a magnification of a user-requested region of interest as a subsection of the pixel representation such that a full image is displayed along with a magnified region of interest.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the magnification of the user-requested region of interest is linear.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein the magnification of the user-requested region of interest is non-linear.

32. The system of claim 23, wherein the image display and analysis software further includes instructions for causing the computer system to hold the cursor at the selected detected edge until the user has indicated acceptance or rejection of the selected detected edge as an edge of interest.

33. The system of claim 23, wherein the image display and analysis software further includes instructions for causing the computer system to indicate, mark and store the edge of interest on the image.

34. The system of claim 23, wherein the image display and analysis software further includes instructions for causing the computer system to indicate, mark and store the one or more points of interest on the image.

35. A sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium for running on a computer system capable of displaying and navigating digital imagery, the sequence of instructions comprising:

instructions for magnifying a user-requested region of interest from a displayed pixel representation of an image;

instructions for performing linear edge detection procedures on the user-requested region of interest to identify one or more detected linear edges within the user-requested region of interest; and

instructions for allowing the user to select one of the one or more detected linear edges within the user-requested region of interest by moving a cursor over the magnified region of interest, wherein the cursor is caused to snap-to a selected detected linear edge when the cursor is within a predetermined distance from the selected detected linear edge;

instructions for allowing the user to accept the selected detected linear edge as an edge of interest; and

instructions for allowing the user to determine and store a point of interest along the edge of interest.

36. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 35, wherein the computer system is a personal computer.

37. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 35, further comprising instructions for downloading and viewing one or more geo-referenced images.

38. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 35, further comprising instructions for displaying, geolocating and making measurements based on images.

39. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 38, wherein the imaged are oblique images.

40. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 35, further comprising instructions for displaying a magnification of the user-requested region of interest as a subsection of the image such that a full image is displayed along with a magnified region of interest.

41. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 40, wherein the magnification of the user-requested region of interest is linear.

42. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 40, wherein the magnification of the user-requested region of interest is non-linear.

43. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 35, further comprising instructions to hold the cursor at the selected detected linear edge until the user has indicated acceptance or rejection of the selected detected linear edge as an edge of interest.

44. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 35, further comprising instructions for indicating, marking and storing the edge of interest on the image.

45. The sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium as in claim 35, further comprising instructions for indicating, marking and storing the point of interest on the image.

46. A sequence of instructions stored on at least one non-transitory computer readable medium for running on a computer system capable of displaying and navigating oblique imagery, the sequence of instructions comprising:

instructions for displaying a pixel representation of a full image;

instructions for magnifying a user-requested region of interest from the full image, wherein the region of interest is a subset of the full image, wherein unmagnified surrounding areas of the full image are still visible to the user, and wherein the user can interact with the magnified region of interest;

instructions for performing linear edge detection procedures on the magnified region of interest to identify one or more detected linear edges within the region of interest;

instructions for allowing the user to select one of the one or more detected linear edges within the user-requested region of interest by moving a cursor over the magnified region of interest, wherein the cursor is caused to snap-to a selected detected linear edge when the cursor is within a predetermined distance from the selected detected linear edge;

instructions for allowing the user to accept the selected detected linear edge as an edge of interest;

instructions for allowing the user to determine, indicate, mark and store at least one point of interest along the edge of interest; and

instructions for allowing the user to make measurements based upon the at least one point of interest.