Visualization of obscured objects in 3D space

• US 9,384,596 B2
• Filed: 09/11/2015
• Issued: 07/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Bailiang, Zhou
• Primary Examiner(s): McCulley, Ryan D
• Application Number:
  US14/851,213
• Publication Number:
  US 20160005238A1
• Time in Patent Office: 298 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/10 Geometric effects
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/20 Perspective computation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/05 Geographic models
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/20 Editing of 3D images, e.g. changing shapes or colours, aligning objects or positioning parts
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/04 Architectural design, interior design
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/004 Annotating, labelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/2012 Colour editing, changing, or manipulating; Use of colour codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/2024 Style variation

Abstract

A system, method and software application implement a visualization scheme for presenting information in a 3D map. A set of rules specifies the visualization scheme, particularly with respect to how the system renders background objects that are obscured by a foreground object. The objects include elements such as building surfaces, streets, pointers, icons, labels, floor plans, and the like. The rules specify details such as stroke, fill, transparency, opacity, and visibility of the elements. Some of the rules may specify relationships between an object and elements that are considered “internal” to the object, while others of the rules may specify relationships between an object and other elements considered “external” to the object.

Claims

1. A method of depicting on a display a three-dimensional (3D) map of a geographic region, the method executed by a computer processor executing instructions stored on a memory device, the method comprising:

obtaining, using the processor, a viewpoint for a 3D map of the geographic region;

identifying, using the processor, a foreground object in the 3D map based on the viewpoint;

identifying, using the processor, one or more background objects in the 3D map based on the viewpoint, each of the one or more background objects at least partially obscured by the foreground object or another background object;

applying, using the processor and using a set of rules, a first rendering style to the foreground object and a second rendering style to the one or more background objects, wherein the set of rules includes, for each of the foreground object and the background objects, one or more configurable foreground element properties specifying a rendering style of the object if the object is the foreground object and one or more configurable background element properties specifying the rendering style of the object if the object is one of the background objects, wherein the one or more foreground element properties and the one or more background element properties each include a first transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing an element internal to the object and a second transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing an element external to the object; and

displaying, using the processor, the viewpoint for the 3D map including the foreground object rendered in the first rendering style and the one or more background objects rendered in the second rendering style.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying a foreground object comprises determining the position and height of an element in the 3D map at the viewpoint relative to other elements in the 3D map at the viewpoint.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more foreground element properties and the one or more background element properties each include a stroke parameter specifying whether to include outline strokes depicting the outline of the object.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a first background object is a background building and wherein the second rendering style includes the first transparency parameter specifying that the background building is transparent or semi-transparent for a second background object inside of the first background object except when obscured by the foreground object.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the foreground object is a foreground building, and applying the first rendering style to the foreground object further includes rendering the foreground building to appear transparent with respect to an internal floor plan and opaque with respect to at least one of the one or more background objects.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the level of transparency for viewing an element external to the foreground building increases from a bottom to a top of the foreground building.

7. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing an element internal to the object further includes at least one of:

(i) a floor plan transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing a floor plan internal to the object, (ii) a label transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing a label internal to the object;

or (iii) an icon transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing an icon internal to the object; and

wherein the second transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing an element external to the object further includes at least one of;

(i) a building transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing a building external to the object, or (ii) a street transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing a street external to the object.

8. A client device comprising:

a network interface;

a user interface;

one or more processors coupled to the network interface and the user interface; and

a non-transitory computer-readable memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing thereon instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the client device to;

receive, via the network interface, map data related to a 3D map of a geographic region;

determine from the received map data a layout of the 3D map;

identify a foreground object in the 3D map from a plurality of elements in the 3D map;

identify one or more background objects in the 3D map from the plurality of elements in the 3D map, each of the one or more background objects at least partially obscured by the foreground object or another background object;

apply, using a set of rules, a first rendering style to the foreground object and a second rendering style to the one or more background objects, wherein the set of rules includes, for each of the foreground object and the background objects, one or more configurable foreground element properties specifying a rendering style of the object if the object is the foreground object and one or more configurable background element properties specifying the rendering style of the object if the object is one of the background objects, wherein the one or more foreground element properties and the one or more background element properties each include a first transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing an element internal to the object and a second transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing an element external to the object; and

display, via the user interface, the 3D map including the foreground object rendered in the first rendering style and the one or more background objects rendered in the second rendering style.

9. The client device of claim 8, wherein to identify a foreground object, the instructions cause the client device to determine the position and height of an element in the scene relative to other elements in the scene.

10. The client device of claim 8, wherein the one or more foreground element properties and the one or more background element properties each include a stroke parameter specifying whether to include outline strokes depicting the outline of the object.

11. The client device of claim 8, wherein a first background object is a background building and wherein the second rendering style includes the first transparency parameter specifying that the background building is transparent or semi-transparent for a second background object inside of the first background object except when obscured by the foreground object.

12. The client device of claim 8, wherein the foreground object is a foreground building, and to apply the first rendering style to the foreground object, the instructions further cause the client device to render the foreground building to appear transparent with respect to an internal floor plan and opaque with respect to at least one of the one or more background objects.

13. The client device of claim 12, wherein the level of transparency for viewing an element external to the foreground building increases from a bottom to a top of the foreground building.

14. The client device of claim 8,

wherein the first transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing an element internal to the object further includes at least one of:

(i) a floor plan transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing a floor plan internal to the object, (ii) a label transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing a label internal to the object;

or (iii) an icon transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing an icon internal to the object; and

wherein the second transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing an element external to the object further includes at least one of;

(i) a building transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing a building external to the object, or (ii) a street transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing a street external to the object.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions executable by a processor, the instructions causing the processor to:

receive map data related to a 3D map;

determine from the received data the visual relationships between a plurality of elements of a scene depicted in the 3D map;

determine, from the plurality of elements in the 3D map, a foreground building;

determine, from the plurality of elements in the 3D map, one or more background objects, each of the one or more background objects at least partially obscured by the foreground building, the one or more background objects selected from streets, buildings, labels, icons, and floor plans;

apply, using a set of rules, a first rendering style to the foreground building and a second rendering style to the one or more background objects, wherein the set of rules includes, for each of the foreground building and the background objects, one or more configurable foreground element properties specifying a rendering style of the object if the building or object is the foreground object and one or more configurable background element properties specifying the rendering style of the object if the building or object is one of the background objects, wherein the one or more foreground element properties and the one or more background element properties each include a first transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing an element internal to the object and a second transparency parameter specifying a level of transparency for viewing an element external to the object; and

display the 3D map including the foreground building rendered in the first rendering style and the one or more background objects rendered in the second rendering style.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein to determine a foreground building, the instructions cause the processor to determine the position and height of a building in the scene relative to other elements in the scene.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the one or more foreground element properties and the one or more background element properties each include a stroke parameter specifying whether to include outline strokes depicting the outline of the object.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein a first background object is a background building and wherein the second rendering style includes the first transparency parameter specifying that the background building is transparent or semi-transparent for a second background object inside of the first background object except when obscured by the foreground building.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein to apply the first rendering style to the foreground building, the instructions further cause the processor to render the foreground building to appear transparent with respect to an internal floor plan and opaque with respect to at least one of the one or more background objects.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the level of transparency for viewing an element external to the foreground building increases from a bottom to a top of the foreground building.