System and method employing three-dimensional and two-dimensional digital images

Abstract

The present invention provides a true-scale, coordinate-matched, linked in real-time, dual three-dimensional / two-dimensional visual display / viewer. The display simultaneously shows a 3D digital image and an associated 2D digital image of a selected drawing. The display of the present invention allows a user to visualize an asset's location, surrounding environment and hazards and true scale structural details for interior or external structural scenes. Using the display and associated tools, the user can obtain real-time information of an environment, true- scale measurement, plan ingress / egress paths, shortest paths between points and the number of doorways in a structure and track objects within the displayed environment. The intelligence gained using the tools and 3D / 2D display may be used and further manipulated by a single user or may be distributed to other users.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates generally to digital images, and more particularly to viewing of digital images. Background technique [0002] Scanning paper documents into digital images is known. Some of the advantages of digital or electronic documents over paper documents include reduced storage space, fast and easy copying, fast retrieval, easy sharing by electronic transmission (e.g., e-mail), permanence and non-volatility in digital format properties and conservation of natural resources such as trees. While a fully digital office is not yet realistic for most businesses, it is hard to find a business that does not rely heavily on digital documents in the normal course of business. [0003] For example, property owners, property developers, architects, and document management professionals scan active and historical documents related to the property, such as building blueprints, floor plans, and riser plans, to save space and enable more efficie...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Also, using only a 2D display does not allow path adjustments for visually identifiable buildings and hazard elements in buildings that appear along the navigation path

For example, a 2D floor plan may indicate that a particular pathway is wide enough for a particular piece of equipment, yet the actual height and building geometry of that pathway in all dimensions cannot be shown in a 2D representation

As a result, first responders or other building system workers see incomplete data when using only 2D floor plans as a decision support tool, which can lead directly to bad or dangerous decisions

[0011] The advantage of viewing a floor plan when using only 3D display is also compromised by the fact that the user only sees the interior of the structure and cannot quickly identify wall construction and embedded electrical, gas and plumbing details

Additionally, a user using a 3D display is only able to observe the spatial relationship of objects in a room directly within the viewing frustum and is unaware of potentially hazardous / important adjoining room / area features including, but not limited to, blocked passages, hazardous materials Location, alarm status, and other important key items

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