Project

 

This research is part of the Visualization MURI, directed by Prof. Avideh Zakhor

Current Research

Fast, automated generation of photo realistic 3D models of city environments for the purpose of simulations and interactive walk-, drive-, or fly-thrus. This goal requires the combination of techniques from various research areas. 

 

 

Airborne Modeling

 

Generation of 3D models of rooftops and terrain shape from airborne laser scans and photos.

• Processing airborne laser scans 

• Reconstructing surface geometry 

• Texture mapping

 

Ground-Based Modeling

 

Generation of 3D models of facades and street scenery as seen from street level. 

It involves in particular:

• Ground-based data acquisition (challenge: huge amount of data)

• Position estimation using scan matching and Monte-Carlo Localization

• Automated segmentation, mesh generation, simplification and texturing

• Rendering (LOD & scene graph generation)

 

     

Pictures of a facade model for 12 downtown Berkeley blocks, generated completely automated. Total acquisition time for the entire facade model was 25 minutes, only limited by traffic conditions. Total processing time was 4 hours. 

 

       Model Fusion

Merging ground-based and airborne model to one single model, usable for both walk- and fly-thrus.

 

Picture of fused model for 3 downtown Berkeley blocks. See below for download.

 

VRML models for 3D point clouds, meshes and textured models:

 

Here are some results to examine interactively, the newest ones on top. If you don't have installed a VRML viewer, you can download CosmoPlayer 2.1 here. For the large models, you should have a PC with a 64MB graphics card and at least 512 MB. If you experience problems viewing the models (blank screen), it might help to first save the VRML file and view it then.

 

You can click on pictures to enlarge.

 

Picture	Model description	Processing state	download
	Model of 3 downtown Berkeley blocks ( CVPR '03 & SIGGRAPH '03)	ground-based facade model fused with airborne model	VRML(103 MB)    zip file
	Model of 3 downtown Berkeley blocks	reconstructed facade, foreground removed	VRML(80 MB)
	Facade of the Berkeley Public Library	reconstructed facade, foreground removed	VRML(2.4 MB)
	Shattuck Ave. between Center and Addison Street	untextured triangular raw mesh	VRML(1 MB) 3D image for  red/blue glasses
	Shattuck Ave. between Center and Addison Street	raw point cloud	VRML(4 MB) 3D image for  red/blue glasses

        

Quicktime video of a rendered drive through and flythrough for downtown Berkeley: download ;

4D modeling of time varying scenes: download video: