Methods and Apparatus for Building a Three-Dimensional Model from Multiple Data Sets

• US 20130321398A1
• Filed: 09/14/2012
• Published: 12/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Howard, James A., Blumenberg, Christopher
• Granted Patent: US 9,418,478 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/419
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3638 including 3D objects and buildings three dimensional [3D] modelling, e.g. data description of 3D objects G06T17/00; geographic models G06T17/05
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/04 Texture mapping
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/205 Image-based rendering
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/20 Finite element generation, e.g. wire-frame surface description, tesselation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/00 Manipulating 3D models or images for computer graphics
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/20 Editing of 3D images, e.g. changing shapes or colours, aligning objects or positioning parts

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for a map tool displaying a three-dimensional view of a map based on a three-dimensional model of the surrounding environment. The three-dimensional map view of a map may be based on a model constructed from multiple data sets, where the multiple data sets include mapping information for an overlapping area of the map displayed in the map view. For example, one data set may include two-dimensional data including object footprints, where the object footprints may be extruded into a three-dimensional object based on data from a data set composed of three-dimensional data. In this example, the three-dimensional data may include height information that corresponds to the two-dimensional object, where the height may be obtained by correlating the location of the two-dimensional object within the three-dimensional data.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

performing, by one or more computing devices;

receiving input indicating a location in a map;

receiving two-dimensional mapping information for the map,

wherein the two-dimensional mapping information includes a respective footprint for one or more objects;

receiving height information for the one or more objects,

wherein the height information includes height values corresponding to one or more locations in the map;

rendering three-dimensional representations of the one or more objects based on the height information,

wherein said rendering comprises extruding a respective footprint of each given object of the one or more objects to create a respective three-dimensional version of the given object; and

displaying a map view of the location including the three-dimensional representations of each of the one or more objects.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

correlating a location of the footprint of the object in the two-dimensional mapping information with a height value from height information; and

correlating another location of the footprint of the object with another height value from the height information.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting the height value from a plurality of height values in the height information, wherein the plurality of height values correspond to respective locations of the one or more locations in the map.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying two or more regions of the footprint based on a similarity of height values corresponding to each respective region of the two or more regions; and

dividing, based on the two or more regions, the footprint into the two or more regions;

wherein to extrude a respective footprint of each given object of the one or more objects, the program instructions are further executable to extrude, based on the height value and based on the height values corresponding to each respective region of the two or more regions, the two or more regions of the footprint.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein to extrude the footprint of the object, the program instructions are further executable to shape the top of the footprint based on zoning information corresponding to the footprint.

6. A system, comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by the at least one processor to;

receive two or more data sets of mapping information for a map;

determine, based on the two or more sets of mapping information, one or more spatial dimensions for one or more objects in the map;

generate, based on the one or more objects, a three-dimensional model with a level of granularity different from each of the two or more sets of mapping information; and

generate a map view based on the three-dimensional model.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein one of the two or more data sets of mapping information comprises two-dimensional mapping information, and wherein another of the two or more data sets comprises three-dimensional mapping information.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein to determine the one or more spatial dimensions the program instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to:

identify a footprint of an object from the two-dimensional mapping information;

correlate the footprint to a corresponding area in the three-dimensional mapping information to find a height value; and

determine, based on a height value, one of the one or more spatial dimensions.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein to generate the map view the program instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to:

extrude the footprint to the height value; and

for each footprint in the two-dimensional mapping information and a respective height value, repeat the program instructions to extrude the footprint to the respective height value.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the level of granularity of the three-dimensional model is greater than a level of granularity of one of the two or more sets of mapping information, and wherein the level of granularity of the three-dimensional model is less than a level of granularity of another of the two or more sets of mapping information.

11. A computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:

receiving two-dimensional mapping information for a map,

wherein the two-dimensional mapping information includes a footprint for an object;

receiving three-dimensional mapping information for the map,

wherein the three-dimensional mapping information includes height values corresponding to one or more locations in the map;

correlating a location of the footprint of the object in the two-dimensional mapping information with a height value from the three-dimensional mapping information;

extruding the footprint of the object to create a three-dimensional version of the object based on the height value; and

displaying a map view based on the three-dimensional version of the object.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to further implement:

repeating said correlating for each footprint of each object in the map;

repeating said extruding for each footprint of each object in the map to create three-dimensional versions of each object in the map; and

displaying each of the three-dimensional versions of each object in the map;

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to further implement:

repeating said correlating for a plurality of locations of the footprint to determine a respective plurality of height values; and

wherein said extruding is based on an average value of the plurality of height values; and

wherein the height value is one of the plurality of height values.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to further implement:

selecting the height value from among a plurality of height values corresponding to the footprint of the object.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the two-dimensional mapping information is vector data and not a raster image, and wherein the three-dimensional mapping information is vector data and not a raster image.

16. A method, comprising:

performing, by one or more computing devices;

creating a representation of an area of a map,

wherein the representation is divided into a plurality of segments defined in terms of two-dimensional space;

receiving three-dimensional mapping information for the area of the map,

wherein the three-dimensional mapping information includes a plurality of height values corresponding to one or more locations in the map;

correlating a segment of the plurality of segments with a height value of the plurality of height values from the three-dimensional mapping information;

adding a height dimension to the segment based on the height value;

repeating said correlating and said adding for each segment of the plurality of segments; and

displaying, based on the plurality of segments, a three-dimensional view of the map.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said correlating is based on finding a location in the three-dimensional data set that corresponds to the segment of the plurality of segments.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

determining a set of segments of the plurality of segments based on a correspondence between segments of the set of segments to a building footprint,

wherein the building footprint is specified within two-dimensional mapping information corresponding to the map.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

generating, based on the plurality of segments, a three-dimensional model of the map;

receiving input corresponding to a navigation operation within the displayed three-dimensional view of the map;

updating, based on the input and the model, the three-dimensional view without receiving additional mapping information or without regenerating the model; and

displaying the updated three-dimensional view.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein each segment of the plurality of segments corresponds to a building footprint.

21. A method, comprising:

performing, by one or more computing devices;

receiving a plurality of data sets corresponding to map related information;

generating, based on the plurality of data sets, a three-dimensional model of a map, wherein the model comprises one or more objects;

displaying a map view based on the model;

receiving, through an interface, input indicating a selection of an object in the model;

invoking, based on the selection, a function that extracts data from one or more of the plurality of data sets; and

updating the map view based on the function and based on the extracted data.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

displaying the updated map view such that the object selected is highlighted,

wherein highlighting object comprises displaying the object contrasted against each of the other one or more objects in the updated map view.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein said input corresponds to a change in a virtual camera perspective on which the map view is based.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein said updating the map view comprises generating, without receiving additional mapping information, a version of the map view based on the virtual camera perspective.

25. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

updating the map view in response to user input indicating a change in the map location,

wherein said updating is based in part on the mapping information, and

wherein said updating is based in part on new mapping information received in response to said indicating a change in the map location.