Patent Application
20170090460
This disclosure relates generally to translating map data into a three-dimensional (3D) model, and more specifically to translating map data into a 3D model for 3D printing, virtual rendering, and other 3D rendering/realization technologies.
Current mapping programs and applications provide a useful tool for navigation, providing aerial views of locations, and even modeled three-dimensional views and images of selectable features, locations, areas, etc. These mapping applications generally utilize a cartography standard or projection, for example a version of the World Geodetic System (WGS), such as WGS-84, which is the reference coordinate system used by the Global Positioning System (GPS), the Mercator projection, and other cartography standards or projection models. Such systems, and mapping applications that use these systems, generally apply two-dimensional image representations of, for example, buildings, terrain, etc., to a coordinate system, to generate pictorial representations of objects on or within a given map. In some cases, three-dimensional information may be included in a section of map, but these portions of three-dimensional data may be limited or otherwise not continuous. As a result, these applications, and the data used and generated by these applications, generally do not completely define a three-dimensional space. Accordingly, generating a truly three-dimensional representation of data from map data, and particularly, a complete and continuous three-dimensional representation of a portion of space from map data, presents particular challenges.
Illustrative examples of the disclosure include, without limitation, methods, systems, and various devices. In one aspect, techniques for generating a three dimensional (3D) model from map data may include obtaining map data corresponding to an area or volume. The map data may be translated into a local space. A surface mesh may be formed from the translated map data and at least one side surface may be generated at an angle relative to the surface mesh. The at least one side surface may be combined with the surface mesh to generate the 3D model of the map data.
Other features of the systems and methods are described below. The features, functions, and advantages can be achieved independently in various examples or may be combined in yet other examples, further details of which can be seen with reference to the following description and drawings.
Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Systems and techniques are described herein for translating map or other similar data into a three-dimensional (3D) model. In some aspects, the translated data may be used and/or further modified for a number of applications, such as 3D printing, 3D modeling, 3D virtualization, and various other applications. The described techniques, which may be referred to herein as 3D translation techniques, may include converting map data, such as WGS-84 data and/or Mercator projection data, into a 3 dimensional model of a portion of space, for example, that may be selected by a user via a user interface provided in conjunction with one or more mapping applications or programs. The portion of map space selected or otherwise defined via the user interface may correspond to one or more tiles of Mercator projection data, or blocks or areas of another coordinate system. These tiles or blocks may be retrieved and then used to define boundaries of the 3D model or representation. The tiles or blocks of data may be modified from a global space orientation (e.g., WGS-84) or other orientation system into a localized orientation, for example, corresponding to a view or perspective selected by a user. The localized or local orientation of the map tiles or blocks may then be further modified, as described below, to generate a fully enclosed or defined three-dimensional volume of space, including a bottom or ground plane, sides, or tile skirts, and a top surface or mesh, that includes height variation, texture, and color, for example.
When map data is translated to a 3D model, there may be gaps or absences of data in places, for example, due to the map data not containing complete 3D data (e.g., the image data of the map was only obtained from a limited number of angles or perspectives). In such cases, it may not be possible to render the 3D model in applications such as 3D printing because the application may require a complete representation of the portion of the map that is being rendered without gaps or missing information. In this scenario, gaps or holes in the map data may be filled in to generate a mesh or top surface of the 3D model that is continuous. A ground plane and a skirt or side edges may be generated and added to the mesh to create a 3D representation of map and image data. Texture and color may be applied to the 3D model, for example, by manipulating texture and color data included in the map data, during one or more steps of translating the map data into a 3D model. In some aspects, gaps or the absence of data corresponding to features or portions of the selected space may be extrapolated from known data corresponding to spaces or features proximal to each gap. In this way, a continuous, and visually detailed 3D model may be created from map data, for example, that may be provided by various mapping applications.
In one example, the map data may include WGS-84 data (e.g., relative to global space), Mercator projection data and the like corresponding to one or more tiles obtained from a mapping application, such as Bing, for example, corresponding to a section or portion of a map. Each tile may be associated with information describing the surface properties of the tile, including height information, texture, color, etc. The described techniques may include translating each tile into a local space, defined such that the origin (e.g., in Cartesian or other coordinate system) is positioned in the place of the camera in a current view, for example, in the mapping application. Next, the centroid of each tile may be determined, for example, in terms of latitude and longitude. Each tile from the map data such as WGS-84 global space and/or the Mercator projection data, may be rotated into a local space where the normal to the Earth (up vector) at the determined centroid point defines the positive z-axis, the positive y-axis points north, and the positive x-axis point east (e.g., to the right). In some cases, for example, where the end application or use of the 3D model is associated with a different coordinate system, it may be preferable to match or convert the 3D model into the target coordinate system (e.g., converting to a left-handed coordinate system or right-handed coordinate system).
In some cases, where multiple map tiles define the selected space for 3D modeling, the tiles may not define an actual volume, for example, if the map data is based on or associated with incomplete or insufficient information. For example, there may be gaps in the data, one or more tiles may not be directly aligned or may not be continuous, etc. In this scenario, the translation process may include attaching or connecting the edges of different portions or segments to define a continuous space such that a volume is defined. For example, each portion of map data may be translated into a volume corresponding to a section (e.g., square) of a ground plane. In one example, the ground plane may be defined by or correspond to a mesh (surface of the area). Combining multiple volumes of map data corresponding to mesh segments, may create a manifold mesh. Each mesh segment may inherit texture and color information from the map data, adjusted and/or modified to fit one or more 3D shapes. Gaps or absences of data between one or more mesh segments may then be filled in using adjacent or proximate texture, color, volumetric information, etc.
In one example, a user interface may be provided in conjunction with a 3D modeling application. The user interface may include various controls for navigating and selecting map data to translate into a 3D model. The user interface may additionally include various controls for editing and manipulating a 3D model, once generated. The user interface may display a representation of map data, including traditional 2D maps, simulated 3D maps, and other maps, including maps provided by existing mapping and navigation applications. In one implementation, the user interface may operate in conjunction with a touch interface (e.g., touch screen) that enables panning, zooming, selecting an area of map data, and other actions, in relation to the displayed map data via a number of configurable swipe gestures. In another implementation, the user interface may operate without the need for any touch screen interface, for example, utilizing traditional input devices (mouse, keyboard, etc.). In one implementation, the user interface may operate in conjunction with other gesture input devices not limited to a touch interface, such as body movements, eye movements, etc.
In one example, to define the 3D model as a volume, sides or a skirt may be generated and applied to the edges of the 3D model, e.g., as vertical walls. In some aspects color, texture, and/or volumetric features corresponding to proximate spaces or features may be applied to the skirt, for example to generate a more visually appealing model.
In one example, a full globe (e.g., Earth) or a substantial portion thereof may be modeled. In this scenario, in order to generate and/or display a complete spherical-shape, view frustum and back-culling may be disabled in the map application or 3D modeling application, to enable more complete modeling of the 3D world.
In one example, objects or boundaries may be identified and extracted from the map data, such as roads, points of interest, buildings, road signs, fences, geographic or terrain features, such as lakes, rivers, etc., and so on. These objects may be defined as distinct entities, and generated in the 3D model having distinct properties, including dimension information, texture and color information, etc. In this way, the generated 3D model may include a more accurate representation of the real world. The 3D model may then be printed by a 3D printer with an identified object having the associated property or properties, for example, to more distinctly define the identified object. In some aspects, these distinct objects may be used in defining the area of map data to translate to a 3D model. For example, map tiles or areas of map data (not defined by tiles, for example) may be selected to include complete objects, boundaries and/or selections of one or more tiles for the 3D model may be modified to include complete objects, etc.
In some aspects, labels of identified locations or features in the map data (building names, business names, street names, names of rivers, mountains, etc.), labels of favorite places, pins or other markers indicating previously traveled or visited places, and so on, may be included in or added to the map data. The label data may, in some aspects, be retrieved with the map data (e.g., from the same source, such as one or more mapping applications), or may be obtained from other sources and cross-referenced to the map data to provide accurate and automatically generated label data. In some cases, a UI associated with the mapping application may include an option to display and/or access or import labels or identification information. In yet some aspects, the UI may enable individual addition/configuration of labels or other identification information. In some cases, this identification data may be included in the 3D model, such that the label or marker of a location or a favorite place may be displayed at the actual location or on the actual object (e.g., the name of a street written on the street in the 3D model, or the name of building written on the building itself). The 3D model may then be printed by a 3D printer with labels or identification information.
In one example, the mesh data may be automatically formatted to be usable by a 3D printer. In some aspects, this may include translating the 3D model to sit above a build plane of a 3D printer, auto-centering of the 3D model, and scaling the 3D model to conform to the bounds or limits of the 3D printer (e.g., on the scale of millimeters).
In another example, the 3D model may be generated or re-formatted for use with a 3D virtualization system, such as a device providing augmented reality or full virtual reality. One such device may be a holographic computing device that is configured to render the 3D model as a hologram on a display surface that may also allow visualization of physical real-world elements. In another example, the 3D model may be rendered on an immersive virtual reality system. In some embodiments, the user may be enabled to navigate through portions of the rendered 3D model or change characteristics of the rendered 3D model.
In some examples, after the 3D model 240 has been generated, the interface may provide controls for editing or changing the 3D model 240. The controls may include zooming 242, changing perspective via a compass 244, editing certain shapes or objects in the 3D model 246, options for modifying or adding addition texture information 248, color editing options 250, and so on. The 3D model 240 may be generated in such a way as to enable full panning around the 3D model 240 in virtual space.
While mapping application and interface 205 is illustrated and described as being different from the 3D modeling application and interface 235, it should be appreciated, that in some aspects, a single interface, provided by a single application, may be implemented to a similar effect. For example, as illustrated in
The 3D model application user interface 235 may provide various tools for modifying the 3D model. In one example, the user interface 235 may provide for selection or modification of resolution information or level of detail to include in various portions of the 3D model. In some examples, the user interface 235 may provide options for adjusting visual features of tile skirts 260, for example, including modifying color, texture, or other visual aspects of one or more tile skirts 260. The user interface may additionally or alternatively provide options for modifying color, texture, height, and other visual information of the 3D model. In some examples, the user interface 235 may provide options for combining 3D models of distinct geographic areas, for example, for visual comparison or other purposes. In some aspects, the user interface 235 may provide a feature smoothing function, for example, to clean up edges, surfaces, etc., where higher resolution map data may not be available, for artistic effect, or for other purposes.
FIG. 2D illustrates another example of the UI 235 of
In some examples, objects may be identified in the map data to enable selection of individual objects or groups of objects for translation into a 3D model. In some aspects, an object may be identified automatically by the 3D modeling application 235, such as based on map and other data. The user interface 235 may provide a selection option to enable auto-snapping to individual objects, such as buildings or other objects. In some aspects, a user may roughly define an object using cursor 270, such as building 282, whereby the application 235 may obtain map data proximate to the selected area to obtain relevant data relating to the selected object for translating into a 3D model.
In one example, the user may select an area using cursor 270 or other section means corresponding to a single tile of map data (e.g., as defined by the WGS 84 and/or Mercator projection data) 284. The user interface 235 may provide for a selection to subdivide the tile 284 into 4 tiles (or another number of tiles configurable by the user), for example, to enable individual modification of different portions of the 3D model to be generated corresponding to the one or more of the generated tiles.
While only a few example controls provided by user interface 235 are described above, it should be appreciated that various other features may be provided, including resolution configuration of areas to be translated into a 3D model, point of interest identification and selection, and other features, for example, illustrated in the properties area 272.
In one example, the map data provided by the mapping application may be generated via the techniques described below. In another example, the map data may be generated, obtained, or accessed by the 3D modeling application, such that the 3D modeling application can operate independently of a mapping application. In either case, the techniques for translating map data into a 3D model may utilize specific features of the map data and the way the map data is formatted and/or generated. It should be appreciated, that the specific implementation described below is only given by way of example. The techniques for translating map data into a 3D model are applicable to various forms and types of map or geographic data. For example, map data formatted using other types of projections, (e.g., other than a Mercator projection), may be similarly translated using a coordinate system as a reference, such as latitude and longitude coordinates, or other systems and schemes used for organizing, manipulating, and presenting map data.
In one example, the map data may include WGS-84 data (e.g., relative to global space) and Mercator projection data corresponding to one or more tiles obtained from a mapping application, such as Bing, corresponding to a section or portion of a map. The map data may be a combination of a large number of aerial photos, for example, captures by aircraft flying over metropolitan areas taken at different angle. In a post-processing stage, this large amount of image data (e.g., terabytes) is matched to locate regions of pixels that are common to each image. Using triangulation based on the known positions and look angles of the source images, a 3D point cloud is created. This point cloud may then be triangulated into a single surface mesh.
In order to obtain color data for the mesh, each triangle defining the mesh may be examined, and the source image with the best view of that triangle selected from which to obtain image pixels. The source image pixels may then be copied into a two-dimensional bitmap which may define a texture atlas for the mesh. This textured mesh may then be divided up into sections for efficient storage and delivery, for example, to a mapping and/or 3D modeling application on a client device. The process of dividing up sections of the mesh may generate a number of sections referred to as tiles. As the earth is mostly a sphere, it is difficult to divide into a regular, rectangular grid. In order to simplify this process, a geographic projection may be used to turn a spherical surface into a two-dimensional surface, which is easier to subdivide. The tile system may be based on the Mercator projection which converts any spherical coordinate in latitude/longitude into a two-dimensional Mercator coordinate. In Mercator coordinates, the world can be divided up into square chunks called tiles.
An example process 300 of breaking the globe into a number of tiles is illustrated in
In some examples, the lines separating the tiles may cut through the mesh in arbitrary places. The process may result in a building being cut in half, for example. This process may create a problem if a tile is separated and displayed apart form an adjacent tile, such that an empty shell would be exposed with nothing defining the edge of the building or terrain feature, etc. In some examples, in order to address this problem, tile skirts may be created to in essence, add vertical walls to the edges of tiles. Tile skirts may be created along the intersection of the plane forming the tile boundary (which goes through the center of the earth) with the surface mesh. The tile skirt may extend down to a local minimum, which may be determined or computed for a specific region. In some aspects, colors and/or textures may also be assigned to this plane to roughly match the colors or textures of the surface mesh along the edge. An example of tiles skirts 260 are provided in 3D model 240 illustrated in
For each tile, a texture atlas may be created from the master source atlas that contains all the surface coloring and other features that are referenced by any triangle in a particular tile mesh. In one example, this data set may correspond to the highest level of detail that may be shown in the map application 205/3D modeling application 235, and is typically several hundred gigabytes in size for an average city. In order to display this efficiently in a client application 205, 235, lower levels of detail may be needed to show larger areas or spaces on a single screen. In one example, meshes and textures from four adjacent tiles are combined into a single mesh for the one tile that was the parent tile in the tile hierarchy. The mesh may then be simplified by removing vertices and collapsing triangles based on some error tolerance. The texture atlas may be resampled to a lower resolution. The resulting tile will typically be similar in size to each of the 4 sub-tiles, but cover the same area as all four combined. The process is then repeated for successive levels of detail. The detailed city data described above may be created for high-population urban areas where more data may be available.
In some aspects, map data outside of, for example, metropolitan areas or areas of high interest, may be generated differently. A global set of height data may be available at medium-low resolution. This data may not contain much surface detail, but may include large terrain features like mountains and hills. This data may correspond to a 2-dimensional bitmap where each pixel includes a grayscale single-channel value. The value may represent the height of the terrain above the WGS-84 ellipsoid model of the earth. This height-bitmap may be cut up into the same Mercator tiles mentioned above. The result is a similar level of detail system that was created for the mesh data. The color information/texture for this data may come from aerial or satellite imagery (which may also be stored in the same tile system).
Upon determination of a selection of map data to translate into a 3D model, the 3D modeling application 235 may obtain the height bitmap image and then use it to create a mesh using a regular subdivision connecting triangles between each heightmap vertex. The aerial or satellite texture may then mapped to the mesh. Like the 3D mesh data, this generated textured mesh may be a simple shell, and may not define a full 3D model or volume. A similar operation may be performed to create a skirt along the edge of the tile by extruding a plane down towards the center of the earth. This extrusion is colored using the edge pixels of the source aerial texture. A representation of this process is illustrated in
Gaps in textures for a 3D model may be filled in order to provide a complete and appealing model. In some embodiments, the texture information for a part of a tile may be determined when such texture information is not readily accessible or available. The image information may be analyzed so that features in the image information such as colors, textures, and objects may be identified. For example, an image recognition algorithm may be used to extract features and match the extracted features to recognize colors, textures, and objects in the image. Such an algorithm may be configured to examine and process individual pixels of an image and determine feature properties using pattern recognition and other techniques. When a texture is determined, characteristics of the texture may be interpolated across the surface that has a gap in texture information.
In some aspects, the texture of an adjoining portion of the map data, such as in such as an adjacent map tile, may be used to connect a gap or hole in the map data. In one example, u,v coordinates of a 2D texture image (e.g., of the map data) may be extended across triangles of a nearby mesh that does not contain texture data. Another example may include applying vertex or face colors in a pattern similar to a nearby section of the surface mesh of the map data. In yet one example, a gradient may be applied across a mesh/triangle face without texture data, where the gradient starts with the color at one edge, and changes to the or another color at another edge.
In some embodiments, recognized features may be used as a point of reference to which other features can be related or against which features can be measured. The identified features may be used as a reference for image scaling or to correlate various other features in the image information.
In one aspect, translating global map data to localized data for the purposed of building the 3D model may including extracting geometry hooks from the map data and related data (e.g., associated with objects identified from the map data, such as roads, street names, points of interest, buildings, such as airports, schools, etc., fences, signs, or points or pins indicated or placed on a map, etc.) and then using those geometry hooks to determine which geometry to render. An example rendering algorithm is described below.
The mapping program may maintain a virtual view location, for example, of a client device using the mapping program as a navigation tool. In some examples, mapping information may be similarly associated with a view location or perspective apart from a mapping program or application. In either case, the view location may be specified in terms of a location near the earth and an orientation. These coordinates can be specified in multiple ways, but may typically include a Cartesian coordinate position (X, Y, Z) (e.g., in meters) relative to the center of the WGS-84 ellipsoid and a look or perspective direction specified as a 3D vector also in the same Cartesian space. A 3D projection matrix may be created using this virtual “camera” position and orientation, along with a field of view. The resulting matrix can be used to convert any coordinate on the surface of the earth into screen-space on the user's monitor or screen. This matrix can also be used to create a view frustum, as illustrated in
The view frustum 645 may be intersected with the WGS-84 ellipsoid. The point where the view frustum 645 intersects the ellipsoid can be converted into Mercator coordinates, starting with the root tile in the Mercator tile system. The corners of the Mercator tile may be mapped back into screen space using the projection matrix. The total number of screen pixels occupied is then calculated. If the number of screen pixels is greater than a threshold, the number of tiles may be reduced (e.g., tiles combined). The threshold may be the approximate size of the texture used to color the mesh. For most tiles, this is a 256×256 bitmap. Accordingly, if the screen extent is less than 64 k pixels, the tile will be subdivided. The Mercator tile is divided into its 4 child tiles, and the process is repeated for each tile. If subdivided tiles are on the opposite side of the earth from the virtual camera, they may be discarded. The result of this process is that when the virtual camera is close to the earth, high detail tiles that cover less physical ground are selected, and when the camera is farther away, lower-detail tiles that cover greater spaces are selected. In some aspects, tiles from multiple levels of detail may be selected in the same scene. If the camera look direction is not pointing straight down towards the center of the earth, then tiles towards the horizon will be farther away from the virtual camera, and so occupy less screen space. This may result in lower-detail tiles being selectively chosen.
In one implementation, tiles that are selected by the rendering algorithm may be output directly to an export format, which is then taken by the 3D builder app and further processed to make it suitable for printing, for example. In other implementations, other, more complex selection processes may be implemented to select geometry for printing. In particular, the level-of-detail falloff used for visual presentation may not be desirable for a printed object where it might be viewed from any angle, thus requiring a consistent level of detail thought the tiles defining the 3D model. The same general principle of determining a general level of detail based on visible surface extent could be used. In other words, the intersection of a view frustum or a user selection (done with mouse drag, touch, pen, gesture input, etc.) on the surface of the earth may be used to determine a general surface extent. That general surface extent could then be used to determine an appropriate tile level of detail to use. The appropriate level of detail selection may take into account the physical size of the final printed object and the resolution of the printer (just like the rendering query uses the pixel extent to determine tile subdivision). The set of included tiles could also include any tiles within the possible output volume, not taking into account simple visibility (so the earth would show up as a full globe when zoomed out). The geometry could be dynamically scaled in the vertical dimension to get height exaggeration, which may be useful for large-area natural features.
In another example, the 3D model may be rendered for use with 3D virtualization systems, including design applications (e.g., to model existing buildings for use with new building design, landscape design, development planning, etc.), devices or applications that provide augmented/full virtual reality, etc. An example device providing augmented or full virtual reality may include a holographic computing device that is configured to render the 3D model as a hologram on a display surface that may also allow visualization of physical real-world elements. In another example, the 3D model may be rendered on an immersive virtual reality system. In some embodiments, the user may be enabled to navigate through and around portions of the rendered 3D model.
In some examples, it may be desirable, as described above, to vary the level of detail translated into one or more tiles of the virtual 3D model (e.g., to speed up processing of the application or device, reduce memory resources needed to store or render the 3D model, etc.). In other cases, it may be desirable to include full detail in the 3D model, such that each tile has the same resolution, for example. In one such example, the 3D model may be generated to include detail visible inside a structure or building, for example, from the outside of the building or structure, such as through one or more windows. This detail may be obtained from the map data, or may be obtained from other data sources and added to the 3D model.
Next, at operation 904, map information corresponding to the identified tile selection may be retrieved or accessed. In one example, zoom information may be used to select an appropriate resolution or level of detail of data to use in generating the 3D model. For example, if the area selected in the map is a large area, information of the selected area may be selected based on a lower resolution. Alternatively, if the area selected in the map is a small area, information of the selected area may be selected based on a higher resolution.
At operation 906, the obtained map data may be translated into local space for 3D modeling. In one example, the translation may include computing the centroid of each tile corresponding to the selected map area at operation 908. Next, each tile may be rotated about the centroid to align with a 3D modeling coordinate system at operation 910, such as including a standard or default orientation, orientation based on the perspective or camera angle associated with the map data that was selected, or other orientation or coordinate system. In some aspects, all the selected map tiles may be rotated about a common or group centroid to align the tiles with a 3D modeling coordinate system.
A surface mesh may then be generated based on the obtained map data at operation 912. The map data may include a height bitmap (e.g., corresponding to terrain features in less populated areas), a texture atlas (e.g., corresponding to buildings or other features in more populated areas), color information, information relating to or defining objects identified in the map data, etc. The mesh data may be mapped or aligned with the tiles corresponding to the selected map area/space (e.g., combined with coordinate information).
Next, at operation 914, the gaps or absences of data in areas of the mesh may be connected or filled-in using color, texture, and other information of areas proximate to the holes or gaps, as described in more detail above, to create a manifold mesh.
At operation 916, the manifold mesh may be translated or otherwise positioned above a surface or ground plane. In the 3D printing example, this may include a build surface of the 3D printer, for example.
Next, at operation 918, tile skirts may be generated and combined with the translated mesh and surface or ground plane. This operation may yield a fully enclosed volume that defines the bounds of the 3D model. In one example, by first generating a ground plane and aligning it with the manifold mesh, and then adding tile skirts, a clean shell may be generated around the base of the tile or tiles. The translation may preserve the orientation of the top surface to more accurately represent elevation from the original data.
In some implementations, process 900 may also include operation 920, which may include determining and retaining geo data for one or more tiles of the generated 3D model. The geo data may include latitude and longitude information (e.g., for use with GPS), or other information, for example, for use in linking or archiving past 3D models for easier access. In some cases, the geo data may include location information specific to certain map data (e.g., Mercator coordinate information). The geo data may include or be associated with the centroid of one or more tiles in the model, or may be associated with other information, such as used in land surveys, etc. The 3D model may be scaled at operation 922 and assigned dimensions, for example, that represent real-world physical dimensions. The scaling may be indicated by a scale factor (e.g., 1:2000), for example, on the 3D model.
Upon completion of operation 922, the 3D model of a selected map area may be fully configured, and may be exported to a 3D printer, exported to a 3D virtualization application, program, or device, and/or may be edited via a user interface provided by the 3D modeling application or another application. In one example, process 900 may continue to operation 924, as illustrated in
The 3D model application 235, the mapping application 205, and the techniques described above may be implemented on one or more computing devices or environments, as described below.
Computer 1002, which may include any of a mobile device or smart phone, tablet, laptop, desktop computer, etc., typically includes a variety of computer-readable media. Computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by computer 1002 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. The system memory 1022 includes computer-readable storage media in the form of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) 1023 and random access memory (RAM) 160. A basic input/output system 1024 (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer 1002, such as during start-up, is typically stored in ROM 1023. RAM 1060 typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presently being operated on by processing unit 1059. By way of example, and not limitation,
The computer 1002 may also include other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only,
The drives and their associated computer storage media discussed above and illustrated in
The computer 1002 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer 1046. The remote computer 1046 may be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described above relative to the computer 1002, although only a memory storage device 1047 has been illustrated in
When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1002 is connected to the LAN 1045 through a network interface or adapter 1037. When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 1002 typically includes a modem 1005 or other means for establishing communications over the WAN 1049, such as the Internet. The modem 1005, which may be internal or external, may be connected to the system bus 1021 via the user input interface 1036, or other appropriate mechanism. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 1002, or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device. By way of example, and not limitation,
In some aspects, other programs 1027 may include a 3D modeling application 1065 that includes the functionality as described above. In some cases, the 3D modeling application 1065 may execute process 800 or 900, as described above, and provide a user interface, as described above in
Upon receiving a selection of map data, process 1100 may continue to operation 1114, where a 3D model may be generated and displayed according to the map data selection, as described in further detail above. In some cases, the 3D model may be modified based on one or more user selection or configuration events, at operation 1116. Upon conclusion of the configuration and generation of the 3D model, the model may be exported and printed, for example, using a 3D printer, or may be exported to a 3D virtualization application.
Each of the processes, methods and algorithms described in the preceding sections may be embodied in, and fully or partially automated by, code modules executed by one or more computers or computer processors. The code modules may be stored on any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or computer storage device, such as hard drives, solid state memory, optical disc and/or the like. The processes and algorithms may be implemented partially or wholly in application-specific circuitry. The results of the disclosed processes and process steps may be stored, persistently or otherwise, in any type of non-transitory computer storage such as, e.g., volatile or non-volatile storage. The various features and processes described above may be used independently of one another, or may be combined in various ways. All possible combinations and sub-combinations are intended to fall within the scope of this disclosure. In addition, certain methods or process blocks may be omitted in some implementations. The methods and processes described herein are also not limited to any particular sequence, and the blocks or states relating thereto can be performed in other sequences that are appropriate. For example, described blocks or states may be performed in an order other than that specifically disclosed, or multiple blocks or states may be combined in a single block or state. The example blocks or states may be performed in serial, in parallel or in some other manner. Blocks or states may be added to or removed from the disclosed example embodiments. The example systems and components described herein may be configured differently than described. For example, elements may be added to, removed from or rearranged compared to the disclosed example embodiments.
It will also be appreciated that various items are illustrated as being stored in memory or on storage while being used, and that these items or portions thereof may be transferred between memory and other storage devices for purposes of memory management and data integrity. Alternatively, in other embodiments some or all of the software modules and/or systems may execute in memory on another device and communicate with the illustrated computing systems via inter-computer communication. Furthermore, in some embodiments, some or all of the systems and/or modules may be implemented or provided in other ways, such as at least partially in firmware and/or hardware, including, but not limited to, one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), standard integrated circuits, controllers (e.g., by executing appropriate instructions, and including microcontrollers and/or embedded controllers), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), etc. Some or all of the modules, systems and data structures may also be stored (e.g., as software instructions or structured data) on a computer-readable medium, such as a hard disk, a memory, a network or a portable media article to be read by an appropriate drive or via an appropriate connection. The systems, modules and data structures may also be transmitted as generated data signals (e.g., as part of a carrier wave or other analog or digital propagated signal) on a variety of computer-readable transmission media, including wireless-based and wired/cable-based media, and may take a variety of forms (e.g., as part of a single or multiplexed analog signal, or as multiple discrete digital packets or frames). Such computer program products may also take other forms in other embodiments. Accordingly, the present disclosure may be practiced with other computer system configurations.
Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” “may,” “e.g.” and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements, and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without author input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment. The terms “comprising,” “including,” “having” and the like are synonymous and are used inclusively, in an open-ended fashion, and do not exclude additional elements, features, acts, operations and so forth. Also, the term “or” is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so that when used, for example, to connect a list of elements, the term “or” means one, some or all of the elements in the list.
While certain example embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Thus, nothing in the foregoing description is intended to imply that any particular feature, characteristic, step, module or block is necessary or indispensable. Indeed, the novel methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of certain of the disclosure.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/233,242, filed Sep. 25, 2015, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/233,271, filed Sep. 25, 2015, the entirety of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62233242 | Sep 2015 | US | |
| 62233271 | Sep 2015 | US |
