Biblio Bytes: Pondering Library Science in the News

3D Mapping of Entire Buildings with Mobile Devices

Fabio Bergamin | January 13, 2016

Computer scientists working in a group led by ETH Professor Marc Pollefeys have developed a piece of software that makes it very easy to create 3-D models of entire buildings. Running on a new type of tablet computer, the program generates 3-D maps in real time.
When Thomas Schöps wants to create a three-dimensional model of the ETH Zurich main building, he pulls out his tablet computer. As he completes a leisurely walk around the structure, he keeps the device's rear-facing camera pointing at the building's façade. Bit by bit, an impressive 3D model of the edifice appears on the screen. It takes Schöps, a doctoral student at the Institute for Visual Computing, just 10 minutes to digitise a historical structure such as the main building.

Essentially, the software being developed at ETH Zurich will be able to, using only the rear facing camera on a tablet, generate a 3D model or map of a building’s exterior by simply having someone hold the tablet and walk around the building’s perimeter. I should note that the software is being designed to be used with the latest version of Google’s Project Tango mobile device, which is not readily available to the public just yet. Source: http://www.3ders.org/articles/20160114-3d-mapping-of-entire-buildings-in-real-time-with-mobile-tablet.html

<more at http://phys.org/news/2016-01-d-entire-mobile-devices.html; related links: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/523039/software-create-3d-maps-buildings.html (New software to create 3D maps of buildings in minutes. January 14, 2016) and http://www.3ders.org/articles/20160114-3d-mapping-of-entire-buildings-in-real-time-with-mobile-tablet.html (3D mapping of entire buildings in real time with mobile tablet. January 13, 2016)>