Communications of the ACM
3D Mapping of Entire Buildings With Mobile Devices
Computer scientists at ETH Zurich have developed software that makes it simple to create three-dimensional models of entire buildings.
Credit: Thomas Schops/ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich professor Thomas Schops and colleagues have developed software that they say makes it easy to create three-dimensional (3D) models of buildings.
The software is designed to run on a new type of tablet computer from Google's Project Tango and can generate 3D maps in real time.
The team's purely optical method is based on comparing multiple images taken on the tablet by a fisheye lens, and using the principle of triangulation in a manner similar to the way it is applied in geodetic surveying. The software analyzes two images of a building's facade, which were shot from different positions. For each pixel in an image, the software searches for the corresponding element in the other. The software can determine how far picture elements are from the device and can use this information to generate a 3D model of the object. Real-time feedback is possible because all of the calculations are performed directly on the tablet and the device has high processing power.
Schops says the software also has potential applications in surveying entire districts, enabling cars to automatically detect the dimensions of parking spaces, as well as in virtual-reality computer games and augmented reality.
From ETH Zurich
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