3D Vehicle Imaging Camera for Insurance Damage Assessment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for photographing vehicles for insurance claims rely on two-dimensional images, which may not accurately capture damage, particularly shading and depth, leading to inconsistencies in damage assessment.
Innovation Solution
A camera device with a screen displaying a vehicle image and a graphical arrow indicating capture directions, capable of storing and transmitting multiple images from different vantage points, providing a 3D visual representation by aligning with a graphical overlay and automatically capturing images to create a standardized 3D model.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If two-dimensional photographs are used to capture vehicle damage, then the imaging process is simple and quick, but the accuracy and consistency of damage assessment deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from two-dimensional photographs to three-dimensional imaging by capturing multiple images from different angles (front, rear, left, right, and interior views) and stitching them together to create a 3D virtual model of the vehicle. This dimensional expansion allows the system to capture depth, shading, and spatial relationships that are lost in single-angle photographs, thereby improving damage assessment accuracy while maintaining efficiency through automated capture sequences.
2Measurement precision
If multiple photographs from different angles are captured manually, then damage assessment accuracy improves, but the complexity and time required for the imaging process increases
Solution Approach 1:
The imaging system performs self-alignment and automated image stitching without requiring manual intervention. The system automatically captures images from predetermined angles, aligns them using reference points and feature recognition, and stitches them together to create the final 3D model. This automation eliminates the need for manual photo assembly and reduces the complexity burden on the user while maintaining high accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-establishes the sequence of image capture and predetermined angles before the actual imaging process. The camera is guided to capture images in a specific order (front, rear, left, right, interior) based on pre-programmed parameters, ensuring consistent and accurate 3D model generation without requiring manual decision-making during the capture process.
3Ease of operation
If two-dimensional images are used, then the imaging process is straightforward, but the ability to capture shading and depth information is lost
Solution Approach 1:
By capturing images from multiple angles and constructing a three-dimensional virtual model, the system recovers depth information and shading variations that are inherent in 3D space but lost in 2D projections. The 3D model preserves the spatial relationships, shadows, and surface contours of the vehicle, providing complete visual information about damage while maintaining ease of operation through automated capture and processing.
Data Source
AI summary
A device and method that assists a user in photographing a vehicle for documenting a condition of the vehicle for a vehicle insurance estimate. The device is a camera that captures images of the vehicle. The camera includes a screen that displays an image of the vehicle and a graphical arrow that indicates a direction in which a plurality of vehicle images are to be captured. The camera also includes a memory that stores a plurality of captured vehicle images of the vehicle each captured from a different vantage point. The camera transmits the plurality of captured vehicle images that are reviewed at an insurance estimate computer.