PhotoSketch: A Photo-Centric 3D Modeling Tool

Google Tech Talks June 26, 2007 ABSTRACT Geospatial navigation tools such as Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth are exceedingly popular applications for exploring massive datasets. Their explosive growth provides impetus for photorealistic 3D modeling of urban scenes. Although laser range scanners are traditional sources for detailed 3D models of existing structures, the heavyweight models they generate are not appropriate for the streaming data that these navigation applications leverage. Instead, lightweight models as produced by photogrammetry tools are better suited for this domain. Unfortunately, photogrammetry tends to be a very labor-intensive operation, requiring manual camera...