Street Level Image Transition Using Textured Polygons
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing street level image transition methods in services like Google Maps are limited by slow internet connections, as they require continuous data transfer of high-resolution images, which can be cumbersome for client computers without fast connections.
Innovation Solution
A system where the client computer generates animation by determining the position of geographic objects in street level images and calculates intermediate locations to render two-dimensional views, using polygons textured with image information, allowing for smooth animation without relying on continuous high-resolution data transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If continuous high-resolution image data is transferred from server to client during transition, then image quality is maintained, but network bandwidth consumption increases and performance deteriorates on slow connections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the transition process into discrete keyframes extracted from the source image, rather than continuously transferring and rendering high-resolution image data. These keyframes are positioned at calculated intermediate locations between start and end points, creating a stepped animation sequence that reduces data transfer requirements while maintaining visual quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary extraction of keyframe images from the source image before the transition animation plays. These keyframes are pre-processed and positioned at calculated intermediate locations, so that when the transition occurs, the client only needs to display pre-prepared images rather than continuously receiving and processing high-resolution data during the transition.
2Measurement precision
If high-resolution street level images are continuously transferred during animation, then visual quality is maintained, but data transfer time increases on slow connections
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous high-resolution image data is segmented into discrete keyframe images at calculated intermediate locations. Instead of transferring continuous video or high-resolution sequences, the system extracts and transfers only essential keyframes, dramatically reducing total data transfer time while maintaining visual quality at critical transition points.
Solution Approach 2:
Keyframe images are extracted and prepared in advance before the transition animation begins. This preliminary extraction allows the system to have ready-to-display images at all intermediate locations, eliminating the need for real-time data transfer during the animation and thus reducing overall data transfer time.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the system generates animation locally using polygon rendering, then network dependency is reduced, but computational complexity on client increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring complex real-time 3D rendering engines, the patent creates simplified 2D copies of the source image at different positions and orientations. These copied keyframe images are then positioned using basic transformation operations (translation, rotation, scaling) to create the animation effect, significantly reducing client computational requirements while achieving the desired visual result.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts only the essential visual information needed for the transition animation from the source image, rather than attempting to replicate complex 3D rendering processes. By extracting keyframe images and their transformation parameters, the system reduces client-side computational complexity to simple image positioning and display operations.
Data Source
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AI summary
A system and method of displaying transitions between street level images is provided. In one aspect, the system and method creates a plurality of polygons (1120) that are both textured with images from a 2D street level (1110) image and associated with 3D positions, where the 3D positions correspond with the 3D positions of the objects (320, 322) contained m the image. These polygons (1120), in turn, are rendered from different perspectives to convey the appearance of moving among the objects contained in the original image.