Continuous Oblique Image Panning via Virtual Canvas
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for navigating and combining oblique images are hindered by their non-grid aligned nature, making it difficult to determine orientation and features, as they are not easily compatible with traditional map navigation and often require loading separate images for panning, leading to discontinuous viewing experiences.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and sequence of instructions for continuous panning of oblique images by translating pixel coordinates into location coordinates, detecting transition events, and selecting adjacent images based on geographic location and direction of travel, allowing seamless display and alignment of features across images.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If oblique images are used to provide a more natural appearance and easier object recognition, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases due to non-grid alignment and navigation difficulties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a virtual canvas as an intermediary layer between the oblique images and the user interface. This canvas provides a standardized grid-based coordinate system that mediates the interaction, allowing users to navigate using familiar map-like coordinates while the system handles the complex transformations to and from the oblique image data, thus resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes coordinate parameters by translating between the oblique image coordinate system and the virtual canvas grid coordinate system. This parameter transformation allows the system to maintain simple grid-based navigation interfaces while working with complex oblique imagery, effectively managing the trade-off between operational simplicity and system complexity
2Ease of operation
If traditional ortho-mosaic images are used to provide grid alignment and map compatibility, then ease of operation is improved, but information loss increases due to mathematical projection processing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the processing into two distinct layers: the original oblique images are preserved intact to maintain all original information, while a separate virtual canvas layer provides the grid alignment and map compatibility. This segmentation allows both requirements to coexist without compromising the original image data
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a virtual copy of the oblique imagery on a standardized canvas, preserving the original images unchanged. This copying approach allows the grid-aligned representation to be generated without altering or losing information from the source oblique images, as the virtual canvas is merely a representational layer
3Measurement precision
If separate oblique images are loaded for panning to enable navigation, then measurement precision is maintained, but productivity decreases due to discontinuous viewing experiences
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate oblique images onto a single continuous virtual canvas, creating a unified navigable space. This combining approach maintains the measurement precision of individual oblique images while eliminating the discontinuous viewing experience, as users can pan continuously across the merged canvas without noticing individual image boundaries
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous panning capability by rendering multiple oblique images on an overlapping canvas structure, allowing the useful action of navigation to continue seamlessly across image boundaries. This eliminates the interruptions that would otherwise occur when loading separate images, thereby improving productivity while maintaining measurement precision
Data Source
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AI summary
A computer system for continuously panningoblique images. More particularly, the computer system uses a methodology whereby separate oblique images are presented in a manner that allows a user to maintain an understanding of the relationship of specific features between different oblique images when panning.