Caching Panoramic Image Tiles for Map Rendering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional geographic map applications with high-resolution panoramic image data face significant delays in downloading and processing, negatively impacting user experience due to the large size of image data.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing two display devices, a stationary and a movable one, with sensors and graphics sources to efficiently display and process panoramic images by distributing processing tasks and caching image tiles for rapid rendering, allowing intuitive and immersive navigation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If high-resolution panoramic image data is used for geographic maps, then image quality and detail are improved, but download time and processing delay increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The panoramic image data is divided into multiple smaller image tiles that can be downloaded and processed independently. This segmentation allows the system to load only the specific tiles needed for the current view rather than downloading entire high-resolution panoramic images, significantly reducing download time while maintaining image quality for displayed areas.
Solution Approach 2:
Image tiles are pre-processed and stored in a cache memory before being needed for display. The system anticipates user navigation patterns and pre-loads adjacent tiles into cache, so when users navigate to new locations, the images are already available locally without requiring download delays.
2Measurement precision
If large panoramic images are processed locally on display devices, then image quality is maintained, but processing time and device resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting panoramic images into smaller tiles, the processing burden on display devices is reduced. Each tile is a manageable unit that can be rendered efficiently without requiring the device to process entire high-resolution panoramic images, thus maintaining image quality while reducing processing time and resource consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
A caching system acts as an intermediary between the image data source and the display device. The cache stores pre-processed image tiles in an optimized format, eliminating the need for display devices to perform heavy processing operations on large panoramic images while still delivering high-quality visual output.
3Loss of information
If entire panoramic images are downloaded from remote servers, then complete image data is available, but download time and network bandwidth consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments panoramic images into smaller image tiles that are downloaded individually based on user needs. Instead of downloading entire panoramic images, only the specific tiles corresponding to the user's current view and anticipated navigation paths are downloaded, significantly reducing download time and network bandwidth consumption while maintaining data completeness for displayed areas.
Solution Approach 2:
Image tiles are pre-downloaded and stored in local cache memory before users navigate to those locations. The system predicts user movement patterns and pre-loads adjacent tiles, ensuring that when users arrive at new locations, the image data is already available locally without requiring time-consuming downloads at the moment of navigation.
Data Source
AI summary
Operations for caching to display panoramic images include repeatedly receiving an indication of one or both of a current geographic location and a current view direction for a user, receiving from a remote server a first plurality of image tiles of a first panoramic image of a predicted geographic location, caching the received first plurality of image tiles, and processing the cached first plurality of image tiles. The processing includes decompressing the cached first plurality of image tiles and storing the decompressed image tiles. When the current geographic location is at the predicted geographic location, rendering, using the stored decompressed tiles, the first panoramic image to a plurality of three-dimensional surfaces in a memory, wherein each of the plurality of three-dimensional surfaces corresponds to a respective portion of a sphere.