Blending between street view and earth view
First Claim
1. A method for displaying images in order to provide an appearance of jumping between the images, the method comprising:
- receiving, by one or more processors of a user input device, a request to transition from a first street-level image to a second street-level image via an aerial view of a transitional image;
determining a transition path of a virtual camera between the first street-level image and the second street-level image such that the transition path corresponds to the virtual camera ascending from the first street-level image at an initial point in the transition path and thereafter descending down and into the second street-level image wherein the transitional image corresponds to a location of the virtual camera along the transition path between a location of the first street-level image and a location of the second street-level image, such that when the virtual camera is at the initial point in the transition path, the virtual camera is oriented towards the first street-level image and tilted upward with respect to ground;
generating the transitional image corresponding to the aerial view by;
rasterizing fragments of a three dimensional (3D) model onto pixels of a display of the user input device,identifying pixels of the first street-level image that correspond to locations of the rasterized fragments by extending lines-of-sight from the virtual camera at the initial point through the identified pixels and to each of the rasterized fragments,identifying a blending ratio for blending fragments of the 3D model with the identified pixels,wherein the blending ratio defines a color contribution from each of the identified pixels and the rasterized fragments, andwherein the color contribution from the identified pixels being greater than the color contribution from the rasterized fragments when the virtual camera is aligned with the street-level images and the color contribution from the rasterized fragments increases as the virtual camera becomes less coincident with the street-level images, andusing the blending ratio to generate the transitional image; and
displaying each of the first street-level image, the transitional image, and the second street-level image on the display as a sequence in order to provide
1) the appearance of jumping between the first street-level image and the second street-level image and
2) spatial context between the first street-level image and the second street-level image.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In one aspect, computing device(s) may determine a plurality of fragments for a three-dimensional (3D) model of a geographical location. Each fragment of the plurality of fragments may correspond to a pixel of a blended image and each fragment has a fragment color from the 3D model. The one or more computing devices may determine geospatial location data for each fragment based at least in part on latitude information, longitude information, and altitude information associated with the 3D model. For each fragment of the plurality of fragments, the one or more computing devices may identify a pixel color and an image based at least in part on the geospatial location data, determine a blending ratio based on at least one of a position and an orientation of a virtual camera, and generate the blended image based on at least the blending ratio, the pixel color, and the fragment color.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method for displaying images in order to provide an appearance of jumping between the images, the method comprising:
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receiving, by one or more processors of a user input device, a request to transition from a first street-level image to a second street-level image via an aerial view of a transitional image; determining a transition path of a virtual camera between the first street-level image and the second street-level image such that the transition path corresponds to the virtual camera ascending from the first street-level image at an initial point in the transition path and thereafter descending down and into the second street-level image wherein the transitional image corresponds to a location of the virtual camera along the transition path between a location of the first street-level image and a location of the second street-level image, such that when the virtual camera is at the initial point in the transition path, the virtual camera is oriented towards the first street-level image and tilted upward with respect to ground; generating the transitional image corresponding to the aerial view by; rasterizing fragments of a three dimensional (3D) model onto pixels of a display of the user input device, identifying pixels of the first street-level image that correspond to locations of the rasterized fragments by extending lines-of-sight from the virtual camera at the initial point through the identified pixels and to each of the rasterized fragments, identifying a blending ratio for blending fragments of the 3D model with the identified pixels, wherein the blending ratio defines a color contribution from each of the identified pixels and the rasterized fragments, and wherein the color contribution from the identified pixels being greater than the color contribution from the rasterized fragments when the virtual camera is aligned with the street-level images and the color contribution from the rasterized fragments increases as the virtual camera becomes less coincident with the street-level images, and using the blending ratio to generate the transitional image; and displaying each of the first street-level image, the transitional image, and the second street-level image on the display as a sequence in order to provide
1) the appearance of jumping between the first street-level image and the second street-level image and
2) spatial context between the first street-level image and the second street-level image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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9. A system for displaying images in order to provide an appearance of jumping between the images, the system comprising:
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a display; and one or more processors configured to; receive a request to transition from a first street-level image to a second street-level image via an aerial view of a transitional image; determine a transition path of a virtual camera between the first street-level image and the second street-level image such that the transition path corresponds to the virtual camera ascending from the first street-level image at an initial point in the transition path and thereafter descending down and into the second street-level image wherein the transitional image corresponds to a location of the virtual camera along the transition path between a location of the first street-level image and a location of the second street-level image, such that when the virtual camera is at the initial point in the transition path, the virtual camera is oriented towards the first street-level image and tilted upward with respect to ground and; generate the transitional image corresponding to the aerial view by; rasterize fragments of a three dimensional (3D) model onto pixels of the display, identify pixels of the first street-level image that correspond to locations of the rasterized fragments by extending lines-of-sight from the virtual camera at the initial point through the identified pixels and to each of the rasterized fragments, determine a blending ratio for blending fragments of the 3D model with the identified pixels, wherein the blending ratio defines a color contribution from each of the identified pixels and the rasterized fragments, and wherein the color contribution from the identified pixels being greater than the color contribution from the rasterized fragments when the virtual camera is aligned with the street-level images and the color contribution from the rasterized fragments increases as the virtual camera becomes less coincident with the street-level images, and using the blending ratio to generate the transitional image; and display each of the first street-level image, the transitional image, and the second street-level image on the display as a sequence in order to provide
1) the appearance of jumping between the first street-level image and the second street-level image and
2) spatial context between the first street-level image and the second street-level image. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 22)
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Specification