Posted 08.11.2010 at 3:22 pm
9 Comments
Just in time for back to school, UC Berkeley researchers have created what might be the coolest backpack ever: a wearable collection of cameras and lasers that maps the interiors of buildings as it goes, instantly generating photo-real 3-D maps of structures.
The research team, which is the same group that's behind the tech used by Google Earth to create three-dimensional cityscapes, has adopted their mapping tech for the individual person. While wearing the pack, humans take on the role of those Google Street View cars that roll around cities snapping images that can be laid over maps.
But while Google Earth uses GPS to create its 3-D renderings, the team had to figure out another way to model interiors in 3-D (GPS isn't very reliable indoors). The solution was an inertial management unit (IMU) like those used in guided missiles. The IMU figures out where the backpack is relative to where it just was, the cameras gnerate a four-direction view, and the lasers record the geometry of the world around them.
The backpack's output: The images are placed over the 3-D map as textures. UC Berkeley
[UC Berkeley via KGO-TV]
9 Comments
To comment, please Login.
Popular Tags
Technology
|
|
|
|
|
|
June 2013: American Energy Independence
Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.
Popular on Popsci
Most Commented
Technology
- Defense Distributed's Cody Wilson On Being Told To Remove 3-D Printed Gun Plans: "We Win"
- This Newer, Stronger 3-D Printed Gun Costs Just $25
- Thieves Stole $45 Million From ATMs Because The U.S. Uses Absurd 40-Year-Old Technology
- Autonomous X-47B Jet Fighter Makes Historic First Launch From An Aircraft Carrier
- 2013 Invention Awards: Family Flier
- Russia Is Building Robots To 'Neutralize' Terrorists
- Time-Lapse GIFs Show Earth Transforming Over 25 Years
- How To Turn An AK-47 Into A Soup Ladle
- America's Road To Energy Independence, Part 1
- Mapping The Simpsons' Slow Descent Into Suckitude
Most Emailed
Technology
- Social Media Replaces Police Missing Persons Searches In France
- New Water-Repellant Fabric Is Like A Second Skin
- U.S. Army Creates Shoebox-Size Universal Battery Charger
- Who Wouldn't Want To Stay In This Totally Insane Space Hotel!?
- Big Pic: Eruption Of Alaska's Pavlof Volcano, As Seen From The International Space Station
- Obama Set To Reboot Drone Strike Policy And Retool The War On Terror
- The World’s Largest Lego Model Is A Life-Size X-Wing [Video]
- Why Don't We Have More Drones Monitoring Wildfires?
- Navy Completes First Flight Of Game-Changing MQ-4C Triton Spy Drone [Video]
- Should Photojournalists Be Permitted To Manipulate Photos?
Most Viewed
Technology
- Social Media Replaces Police Missing Persons Searches In France
- New Water-Repellant Fabric Is Like A Second Skin
- U.S. Army Creates Shoebox-Size Universal Battery Charger
- Who Wouldn't Want To Stay In This Totally Insane Space Hotel!?
- Big Pic: Eruption Of Alaska's Pavlof Volcano, As Seen From The International Space Station
- Obama Set To Reboot Drone Strike Policy And Retool The War On Terror
- The World’s Largest Lego Model Is A Life-Size X-Wing [Video]
- Why Don't We Have More Drones Monitoring Wildfires?
- Navy Completes First Flight Of Game-Changing MQ-4C Triton Spy Drone [Video]
- Should Photojournalists Be Permitted To Manipulate Photos?
Online Content Director: Suzanne LaBarre | Email
Senior Editor: Paul Adams | Email
Associate Editor: Dan Nosowitz | Email
Assistant Editor: Colin Lecher | Email
Assistant Editor: Rose Pastore | Email
Contributing Writers:
Kelsey D. Atherton | Email
Francie Diep | Email
Shaunacy Ferro | Email
Today on PopSci.com
Copyright © 2012 Popular Science
A Bonnier Corporation Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Who ya gonna call?
sounds like the perfect tool for a bank heist.
This tech could be combined w/ 3d image (object) recognition for auto-navigation in cars in the future. (Not today because it would require to much computing power.)
Sounds like google will be doing home invasions now...
Pretty cool. Instead of having 4 different cameras, couldn't that be accomplished by a camera that looks in 360 degrees, like a surveillance camera? I imagine this setup is cheaper and easier, using 4 basic cameras, but I feel like there would be some geometry issues if the room isn't rectangular like the hallway he traveled through. I imagine a 360 degree surveillance camera's output could be modified with proper coding to basically "unravel" the image and place it on whatever surface they want.
Sounds like video games based in real cities are about to get a whole lot more realistic.
So many applications for this, SPIES rejoice!
Just need to downscale the technology!!!
Sigorny Farl
http://www.sdcardduplicator.co.uk
this is really cool and hopefully it catches on. my favorite indoor mapping without the need for gps or an internet signal gives you turn by turn navigation at shopping malls and areas around the world - its called fastmall i recently came across it on mashable - really incredible so far.
Video games, real estate sales, and virtual touring will all love this tech. Government, however, needs to descide at what resolution my right to privacy is.