ESTIMATING POSE OF PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES IN 3D EARTH MODEL USING HUMAN ASSISTANCE

摘要

The pose of a photographic image of a portion of Earth may be estimated using human assistance. A 3D graphics engine may render a virtual image of Earth from a controllable viewpoint based on 3D data that is representative of a 3D model of at least a portion of Earth. A user may locate and display a corresponding virtual image of Earth at a viewpoint that approximately corresponds to the pose of the photographic image by manipulating user controls. The photographic image and the corresponding virtual image may be overlaid on one another so that both images can be seen at the same time. The user may adjust the pose of one of the images while overlaid on the other image by manipulating user controls so that both images appear to substantially align with one another. The settings of the user controls may be converted to pose data that is representative of the pose of the photographic image within the 3D model.