SuperMap Augmentd Reality (AR) Mapping Technology
AR technology has been integrated into various fields of our daily life without knowing it. Today, the editor will introduce to you how to apply AR technology in mapping and experience the new mapping experience brought by AR.
AR mapping is based on the principle of computer vision, combined with visual calibration and inertial calibration algorithms, to realize the visual mapping of 2D and 3D maps in real scenes, so as to obtain accurate coordinate information. All you need is a mobile phone that supports AR capabilities to quickly measure distance, height, and area. At the same time, you can quickly measure maps based on point clouds, trajectories, etc., and use them for data collection in indoor and outdoor areas such as offices, shopping malls, and factories.
AR measure height (1.gif)
AR mapping uses mobile phone cameras and various sensors to obtain real-time attitude and location information. It is greatly affected by environmental factors, and there are some thresholds for novices. As long as you master certain skills, you can obtain it accurately. In order to solve the above problems, this paper adds interactive experiences such as novice guidance, node capture, and tactile feedback to AR mapping, so that users can quickly get usage methods and precautions, thereby improving measurement accuracy.
2. AR mapping interactive experience optimization
To start the guide and enter AR mapping, you first need to scan the mapping environment with your mobile phone to determine the mapping plane. If there is no guidance prompt, users often don’t know how to perform follow-up operations. Add guidance animations for mapping and use visual and dynamic guidance Tips enable users to quickly enter the mapping scene and reduce learning costs.
Mapping guide animation (2.gif)
Feature point prompt , when scanning the plane, point the camera at the area rich in feature points, if the scanning plane is too smooth and the program cannot detect enough feature points, it will prompt "The current plane has few feature points, please continue to move the phone" . Try not to face areas with few feature points such as white walls and glass doors. If it is unavoidable to face the white wall, you can increase the feature points by hanging decorative pictures on the wall, pasting coloured paper, etc.
Prompt information of feature points (3.png)
The light hints that AR mapping is directly related to environmental factors. When the light of the scene is too dim, it is difficult to recognize whether it is a plane or a feature point. Therefore, if the current mapping environment is too dark, it will prompt "The current environment is too dark, please provide good lighting". Remind the user that the current light conditions do not meet the mapping requirements, and auxiliary lighting needs to be provided.
Light Tips (4.gif)
Moving speed , with the help of the mobile phone acceleration sensor, the program will perceive the moving speed of the user's mobile phone. When the speed is too fast, the program will not have time to recognize the scene. At this time, the prompt "The mobile phone is moving too fast, please slow down" will appear. On the basis of operation, timely guidance prompts during the process can be provided, which can reduce the understanding cost of interactive guidance and improve user efficiency.
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Movement Speed Tips (5.gif)
Feature Capture
Node capture . In AR mapping, it is often necessary to capture the nodes of existing objects. The automatic node capture function is added to quickly capture the endpoints and midpoints of line segments of existing objects. The setting of node capture is very important for mapping. The map work is more accurate and the accuracy of the map is improved.
Capture tolerance , and supports custom capture tolerance. When mapping in a large area, it is not necessary to zoom in and out frequently. The node of the object can be captured within the set tolerance range, which makes capturing the object more convenient and easy, and saves measurement time.
Snap endpoints and midpoints (6.gif)
Haptic feedback
Vibration feedback , tactile vibration feedback is added to the AR mapping. When a node is captured or when a node is added, the vibration feedback can be triggered, linking the interface operation with the sense of touch, and enhancing the interactive experience between the user and the interface.
Intelligent filtering , in order to further improve the performance of AR mapping, optimizes the recognition accuracy of feature points, prioritizes the recognition of points on the plane, filters the points that are too close or misidentified, and improves the efficiency and accuracy of mapping.
3. Application Cases of AR Mapping
We use AR mapping to collect data in an office area of an office building. We collect data on four floors. The collection elements include data such as rooms, indoor roads, and POIs. The collection area is about 10,000 square meters. It takes 8- After 16 hours, process the collected data, add necessary attributes, then create a thematic map based on the attribute information, and finally superimpose and stretch each floor to obtain a three-dimensional map as shown in the figure below. Using map data can be used for indoor and outdoor GIS-related applications, such as map browsing, route navigation, AR delivery, etc.
Mapping results are used to make indoor maps of office buildings (7.png)
Compared with traditional mapping, the measurement accuracy of AR mapping needs to be improved, but AR mapping does not require expensive measuring instruments, and the measurement and mapping can be completed in one step through a mobile phone. The AR experience during mapping is also very good. Mapping efficiency is also relatively high. With the continuous upgrading of mobile phone sensors, AR mapping on mobile phones will become the mainstream in the future.
The AR mapping function mentioned in this article has been implemented on SuperMap iTablet 10i (2020) SP1.
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