WO2014162265A2 - Method and system for the virtual tour of inaccessible and/or impassable places with vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

The method for the virtual tour of inaccessible and/or impassable places with vehicles, comprises the steps of: providing a route within a places; providing portable acquisition means (1), which are able to cyclically acquire photographic images of the surrounding environment; walking along the route carrying the acquisition means (1) so that they acquire the photographic images relating to a plurality of points along the route; processing the images relative to each of the points so as to define respective pans; processing the pans by means of a viewing software, so as to create respective animated applications which allow to explore the relative pan; providing one or more content files which include information and/or recreational contents relating the pans; creating a tour file, in which it is established how the pans are connected together and how they are associated with the contents; and employing a user interface to interpret the tour file so as to define an interactive virtual tour of the route, in which a user of the interface can switch from the view of a pan to that of another pan connected thereto and can use the contents.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR THE VIRTUAL TOUR OF INACCESSIBLE AND/OR IMPASSABLE PLACES WITH VEHICLES

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method and a system for the virtual tour of inaccessible and/or impassable places with vehicles.

Background Art

Systems and software for the virtual tour of places are known, such as e.g. the Street View function available from Google Maps and Google Earth online services offered by the American company Google Inc.

This function allows to explore the streets of a city through a variety of panoramic photos taken at street level and published on the World Wide Web, through the aforesaid Google Maps and Google Earth services.

In practice, the photographic images which will be used to virtually recreate the city to visit, are acquired using cars equipped with cameras that can take photos in motion.

These images are joined together into pans, which are processed via software in order to make them suitable for publication on Google Maps.

One of the drawbacks of this technology is the fact that it does not allow the virtual tour of places which are inaccessible by car.

Furthermore, Street View, besides the published pans, provides the user with information regarding the address of a certain number of buildings displayed and the website of the activities carried out in these buildings (especially in the case of commercial businesses).

In practice, this service makes available infonnation on the physical location of a given building in a city or the "virtual location" of web pages associated with it in the World Wide Web.

Description of the Inv ention

The main aim of the present invention is to provide a method and a system that allow the virtual tour of inaccessible and/or impassable places with vehicles, that provides the user, during the virtual tour, infonnation or recreational contents related to what is shown in the tour itself.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and a system to create and make available virtual tours that allow to overcome the mentioned drawbacks of the prior art in the ambit of a simple, rational, easy and effective to use as well as economic solution.

The above objects are achieved by the present method for the virtual tour of inaccessible and/or impassable places with vehicles, comprising the steps of:

- providing at least a route within one of these places;

- providing portable acquisition means ( 1 ), which are able to cyclically acquire photographic images of the surrounding environment;

- walking along said route carrying said means so that they acquire said photographic images relating to a plurality of points along said route;

- processing the images relative to each of said points so as to define respective pans;

- processing said pans by means of a viewing software, so as to create respective animated applications which allow to explore the relative pan; - providing one or more content files which include information and/or recreational contents relating one or more of said pans;

- creating at least a tour file, in which it is established how said pans are connected together and how they are associated with said contents; and

- employing a user interface to interpret said tour file so as to define an interactive viitual tour of said route, in which a user of said interface can switch from the view of a pan to that of another pan connected thereto and can use said contents.

The above objects are achieved also by the present system for the viitual tour of inaccessible and/or impassable places with vehicles, comprising:

- means ( 1 ) for cyclically acquiring photographic images of the surrounding environment;

- means for processing said photographic images so as to create pans;

- viewing means for processing said panoramic images so as to creat

- respective animated applications which allow to explore the relative pan; characterized in that said acquisition means ( 1 ) are portable, and in that the system comprises:

- one or more content files which include information and or recreational contents concerning one or more of said pans;

- means for creating a tour file suitable for establishing how said pans are connected together and how they are associated with said contents; and

- user interface means for interpreting said tour file so as to define an interactive virtual tour of a route in said place, in which a user of said interface can switch from the view of a pan to that of another pan connected to it and can use said contents.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more evident from the description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of a method and a system to create and make available virtual tours, illustrated by way of an indicative, but not limitative, example in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a diagram that represents the steps of the method according to the invention.

Embodiments of the Invention

The proposed method has been devised for the virtual tour of inaccessible and/or impassable places with vehicles, such as forests, cliffs, canyons, glaciers, the interior of factories or the like, wherein one or more routes (in particular paths) may be identified, intended to be virtually travelled and visited by a user, e.g., but not exclusively, via the World Wide Web, as a result of the implementation of the proposed method.

The method makes available, first of all, portable acquisition means 1 , which are able to cyclically acquire photographic images of the surrounding environment.

In particular, preferably, the acquisition means 1 comprise, as represented in a stylized manner in the figure, a plurality of cameras 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, a supporting frame 7 on which the cameras are mounted with different orientations from one another, and a backpack 8 to which the frame 7 is fixed.

Even more in detail, five cameras 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 may be provided arranged so as to take portions of the surrounding environment respectively arranged on top, bottom, at the front, at the back, on the left and on the right of the person wearing the backpack 8 (hereinafter also called "excursionist", for more convenience).

In any case, the acquisition means 1 may be like those disclosed in U.S. provisional patent application no. US61545471 , the content of which is meant herein incorporated by reference.

Alternatively, the acquisition means may comprise a single camera, which is equipped with a fish-eye lens, or is associated with a mirror able to project, on the camera lens, the image of the surrounding landscape substantially visible on a round angle around a vertical axis that passes through the camera itself.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the aforementioned frame 7 suitably supports at least an electronic device for shooting films such as, in particular, a film camera.

The latter case will be discussed in detail later, after explaining some important steps of the invention.

The proposed method envisages to walk along the above mentioned route and carry the acquisition means 1 so that they acquire said photographic images, in relation to a plurality of points along the route itself, namely a plurality of positions located along the route.

In practice, the acquisition means 1 can be operated, either manually or via a control unit specifically programmed for the puipose, to take images of the suiTounding environment in a synchronized manner, in different points of the route, located at a predetermined distance the one from the other (e.g. 20 meters or 30 meters).

In particular, in the event of using the cameras 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 described above, after the initial shots that take the point of origin of the route, next shots are taken whenever the excursionist carrying the backpack 8 walks along a stretch of trail (or of another route) of predetermined length.

Even more in detail, in the preferred embodiment wherein the acquisition means 1 comprise the aforementioned cameras 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. the proposed method may comprise a renaming step 9 of the photographic images.

In fact, each time the cameras 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 take an image, they assign a name to the photo and store it in a memory unit (e.g. microSD memory cards associated with the respective cameras or a single memory device connected to all die cameras), associating it with this name.

Given that the different photographic images acquired in relation to a given point of the route will have to be joined together to form a respective panoramic image, according to procedures best explained later, it is appropriate to rename them through a special software application, with an identification code that allows to recognize the point of the route to which a given photographic image belongs (and therefore also its pan).

This renaming step 9 is preferably carried out after a preliminary screening step, in which the images that do not fall within the route or pans one wish to publish, and in general that are considered non-compliant or irrelevant, were set aside or discarded.

Additionally, the acquisition means 1 of images may also include a satellite navigation device 10 in order to geo-reference the photographic images (and hence the respective pans), w ith the geographical coordinates of said point of the route in which they have been acquired.

In practice, the navigation device 10 may be connected to the cameras 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 so as to record the coordinates of the corresponding point in the route, whenever photographs are taken, so as to associate these coordinates with the relevant images.

Alternatively, the navigation device may even not be connected to the acquisition means and be activated independently.

After the acquisition step of the images, i.e. after the excursionist walked along the entire route and the acquisition means 1 cairied by him/her have taken all the photographic images, both a removal step of chromatic aberrations 1 1 from the photographic images and a removal step of optical distortion 12 from the same images may be carried out.

At this point, a stitching step 13 is cairied out, in which the images relative to each of the above mentioned points of the route are processed to form respective panoramic images.

In detail, the different cameras 2. 3, 4, 5, 6 of the acquisition means 1 take different portions of the surrounding environment which partially overlap each other, and may therefore be joined through image stitching, using one of the different special processor programs.

After that, a generation step 14 is carried out for generating a folder comprising all the panoramic images related to the route.

At this point, the panoramic images in the folder are processed through a viewing software, to create respective animated applications which allow to explore the relative panoramic image (animation step 15).

In practice, panoramic images viewing software (e.g. RPano or the like), as known, create animations (e.g. using Adobe Flash or HTML5 technology or the like) that allow to explore the panoramic images in different directions.

Before explaining how a virtual tour of the route is realized and published, a very important aspect of the invention is described below.

The proposed method also comprises a characterization step 1 6, w herein one or more content files are provided which include information and/or recreational contents concerning one or more of said panoramic images.

In practice, these contents may be of multimedia type and be e.g. of the scientific documentary type (e.g., if the explored trail passes through an alpine glacier, the contents may relate to its recent setback or to historical events related to it, such as the battles of the Great War, or the like).

Or, these contents can be either of advertising or recreational type, or still more. At this point, at least a tour file is created (but preferably two, as explained below), in which it is established how the panoramic images are connected to one another and how they are associated with the above mentioned contents (mapping step 1 7).

This file may be created, by way of example and without limitation, through a markup language (such as XML, HTML or the like).

In practice, in this tour file, the panoramic images are connected so as to establish how the end user of the virtual tour can switch from the view of a given pan related to a given point in the route to the view of the pan of the next (or previous) point of the path, so that he/she is under the impression to travel and visit the photographed places.

The tour file may also detennine the association between each panoramic image and its geographic coordinates, acquired in the manner explained above. Preferably, the method envisages to create at least two tour files, of which, first of all, a path file, wherein are established both the mentioned connections between the panoramic images and the graphical interface (a so-called "toolbar") that w ill allow the user, as a result of the subsequent publication of the virtual tour, to explore a given panoramic image, and the switch to the view of panoramic images connected thereto.

In addition, a content file is created in which are defined the associations between the above mentioned contents and the respective pans.

This can be achieved in several ways, of which the following two. not mutually exclusive.

It may be envisaged that the virtual tour comprises key pans along the route, with which the above mentioned contents are associated, in such a way that, when the user virtually visits a key pan, the same can use the relevant contents (a film, an audio recording, a text description, etc.), e.g. by automatically activating a "media player" that reproduces such contents, or by means of other systems.

Similarly, key photographic images may exist within the respective panoramic image; in this case, when the user views such key photographic image, while exploring the pan. the view/play of the relative contents starts (e.g., if the image shows a mountain, a text may be displayed informing the user about the name and height of the same or its orogeny, or a player can start that plays a historical film on a climb of this mountain or the like).

Before explaining further processing steps of the tour files, for the final definition of the interactive tour, an alternative embodiment for obtaining these files is explained below, to be used when the acquisition means employed in the invention comprise devices able to shoot films of the surrounding environment. In particular, e.g., such devices may be film cameras positioned like the cameras 2. 3, 4, 5, 6 from the example shown in Figure 1 . or a single film camera associated with devices similar to those already described in the event the acquisition means 1 include a single camera.

In this case, the above photographic images, acquired while the excursionist w alks along the route, are therefore part of respective films; they are synchronized one with the other in such a way that, in the stitching step 13, the synchronous photographic images of the different films are joined together to form a respective instantaneous pan (e.g. always through image stitching) to define, together with the pans obtained from joining the photographic images relative to different instants, a panoramic film.

In detail, in one embodiment of the invention, each panoramic film can relate to each point of the route, in the meaning identified above; in this case, the tour file created using this type of pan can envisage that the film relative to a point is repeated cyclically in a so-called loop.

The panoramic film, following the processing of the animation step 1 5 (which may be performed using the same technologies already introduced in connection with the photographic pans, or even others, as long as suitable for the purpose), becomes in practice an explorable animation of a panoramic film. After that, the above mentioned characterization and mapping steps 16, 1 7, mutatis mutandis, are carried out so as to create the tour files.

The tour files, irrespective of how they have been created, must then be interpreted by a user interface, to define the interactive virtual tour of the above mentioned route, in which the user can switch from the view of a pan (whether an image or a film) to the view of another one connected thereto and can use the above mentioned contents.

In detail, such user interface can be e.g. a Web browser. The use of different user interfaces cannot be mled out that make it possible to enjoy the virtual tour in stand alone mode, e.g. in the event the tour being published in the form of an application for smartphone or other known device or able to interpret the files recorded on a storage medium, such as a DVD (or a flash memory, or other devices with the same function).

If the user interface is a Web browser, the tour files will be formatted so as to create web pages (formatting step 18) in order, e.g.. to publish them on the World Wide Web.

If the tour files have been written with hypertext markup languages such as HTML, then the formatting is provided by the language itself (and the mapping and formatting steps 17, 18 occur simultaneously), if, on the other hand, XML or the like has been used, formatting is done with the use of a specific technology such as ASP.NET (or PHP, Perl, or other technologies know n to the person skilled in the art), so as to create web pages that define the virtual tour. During the creation of web pages, codes or applications that allow a link to social networks (socialization step 19) may be added.

After creating the web pages of the virtual tour, these may be published by uploading them on a web server, at a publication step indicated by 20 in the figure.

If one does not wish to publish the tour on the WWW, it may be published through the sale of storage media or smartphone apps.

In the case of publication on the WWW, the web pages which reside e.g. on a laptop computer can be loaded remotely on the web server, e.g. by using the FTP protocol, possibly together with the above mentioned pan folders.

By using the method of the invention, it is possible to make and publish virtual tours of places walked along by people who carry with them the aforementioned acquisition means 1 , in which tours are embedded contents which may be of many different types, based on the needs of those who have created or commissioned the tour itself.

The proposed method can e.g. be used to make virtual tours of the interiors of production plants, for the puipose of advertising or for other reasons.

The system of the invention, devised to implement the proposed method, comprising :

- the above mentioned portable acquisition means 1 :

- means for processing the photographic images so as to create pans (such as, e.g., the mentioned software for image stitching);

- viewing means (such as the above mentioned panoramic images viewing software, e.g. RPano) to create animated applications that allow exploring pans;

- one or more content files, included in appropriate storage media, including the aforesaid information and/or recreational contents, concerning pans;

- means for creating the above mentioned tour file (or two files) (e.g., one of the markup languages described above, such as XML); and

- user interface means (such as, e.g., a web browser) to interpret said tour file and define the virtual tour of the route for the web browser users.

The system may also comprise means for publishing the virtual tour, such as, by way of example, the mentioned web server and an internet connection for the transfer of web pages to the web server, e.g. via FTP.

Preferably, the system acquisition means 1 also comprise the satellite navigation device 10 mentioned above, e.g., operatively connected to the cameras 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, (or film cameras) in the manner explained above.

Additionally, the system of the invention may also comprise means for the removal of chromatic aberrations from the images taken by the acquisition means 1 , as well as means for the removal of optical distortions from the same images.

In addition, the above means for creating the tour files can be intended to provide both the above file path and the above content file; in the latter, optionally, is indicated how the content explained above are associated individually with one or more photographic images incorporated in its panoramic image.

The means for creating the tour files and the user interface means may include all or some of the technologies already mentioned during the explanation of the method of the invention in relation to the steps of mapping, formatting, socialization and or publication 1 7, 1 8, 19, 20.

It has been found in practice how the described invention achieves the intended objects and in particular the fact is underlined that it makes available a method and a system for the creation and publishing of virtual tours of paths which can be reached only on foot, during which tour the user may enjoy different contents that will not only amplify the emotional experience of the virtual tour itself, but increase the interest in a real tour to the photographed places.

Claims

1 ) A method for the virtual tour of inaccessible and/or impassable places with vehicles, comprising the steps of:

a. providing at least a route within one of these places;

b. providing portable acquisition means ( 1 ), which are able to cyclically acquire photographic images of the surrounding environment;

c. walking along said route carrying said means so that they acquire said photographic images relating to a plurality of points along said route;

d. processing the images relative to each of said points so as to define respective pans;

e. processing said pans by means of a viewing software, so as to create respective animated applications which allow to explore the relative pan; f. providing one or more content files which include information and/or recreational contents relating one or more of said pans;

g. creating at least a tour file, in which it is established how said pans are connected together and how they are associated with said contents; and h. employing a user interface to interpret said tour file so as to define an interactive virtual tour of said route, in which a user of said interface can switch from the view of a pan to that of another pan connected thereto and can use said contents.

2) Method according to claim 1 , characterized in that said tour file is created through a markup language.

3) Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said interface comprises a web browser and that said tour file is formatted in such a way that it can be interpreted by said web browser, so as to define said interactive virtual tour.

4) Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said tour is published on the World Wide Web.

5) Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said photographic images acquired in step c. are part of respective films synchronized one with the other in such a way that, in step d., the synchronous photographic images of the different films are joined together to form a respective instantaneous pan so as to define, together with the pans obtained from joining the photographic images relative to different instants, a panoramic film which, following the processing of step e., becomes an explorable animation of a panoramic film.

6) Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said acquisition means ( 1 ) comprise: at least an electronic image acquisition device (2, 3, 4, 5, 6); a supporting frame (7) on which said device (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) is mounted; and a backpack (8) to which the frame (7) is fixed.

7) Method according to claim 6, characterized in that said acquisition means ( 1 ) comprise a plurality of cameras (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) which are mounted onto said frame with different orientations the one to the other.

8) Method according to one or more of the claims from 1 to 5, characterized in that said acquisition means comprise: a plurality of film cameras mounted with different orientations the one to the other onto said frame (7).

9) Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises the step of geo-referencing each photographic image with the geographical coordinates of said point of the route in which it has been acquired.

10) Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the following files are created: at least two tour files, of which one path file, in which the connections are established between said pans and a graphical user interface for allowing both the exploration of a given pan and the switch to the view of pans which are connected thereto; and a content file in which the associations are defined between said contents and the respective pans.

1 1 ) Method according to claim 10, characterized in that said contents are associated with one or more photographic images of the relative panoramic image.

12) Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the images acquired in step c. are synchronized and capture a plurality of different portions of the surrounding environment, which are partially overlapped the one to the other, and in that they are joined through image stitching in step d. 13) Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said tour file is in XML format.

14) Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said tour file is formatted by means of ASP.NET.

1 5) Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said contents are of the multimedia type.

16) Method according to one or more of the claims from 10 to 1 5, characterized in that said path file defines the association between one or more of said pans with one of its written or audio descriptions.

17) Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that, at the end of step c, chromatic aberrations are removed from said photographic images.

18) Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that, at the end of step c, optical distortions are removed from said photographic images.

19) A system for the virtual tour of inaccessible and/or impassable places with vehicles, comprising:

- means ( 1 ) for cyclically acquiring photographic images of the surrounding environment;

- means for processing said photographic images so as to create pans;

- viewing means for processing said panoramic images so as to create respective animated applications which allow to explore the relative pan; characterized in that said acquisition means ( 1 ) are portable, and in that the system comprises:

- one or more content files which include information and/or recreational contents concerning one or more of said pans;

- means for creating a tour file suitable for establishing how said pans are connected together and how they are associated with said contents; and

- user interface means for interpreting said tour file so as to define an interactive virtual tour of a route in said place, in which a user of said interface can switch from the view of a pan to that of another pan connected to it and can use said contents.