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GoogleGranted patentAR, VR & displaysInterest 4/10

Google patents 3D camera moves for landmarks based on photo data

Google describes a system that picks the best photo of a landmark from a large set of user-submitted images. It then creates a smooth, circular camera path around a 3D model of that landmark, starting from the exact spot where the chosen photo was taken.

Why it mattersThis could make virtual tours of famous places feel more natural by aligning the digital view with how real people actually photographed the spot.

In the filing’s own words

A computing system obtains a plurality of images and associated image information. Each of the plurality of images depicts a particular Point of Interest (POI). For each of the plurality of images, the image information is descriptive of a plurality of image characteristics, such as a geolocation characteristic indicative of a geolocation at which the image was captured and/or an interaction metric derived from previous user interactions with the image. The computing system selects a particular image of the plurality of images based on the image information and generates a movement pattern for a camera viewpoint within a three-dimensional environment. The movement pattern for the camera viewpoint moves around a three-dimensional representation of the particular POI within the three-dimensional environment, and a starting position for the movement pattern is based, at least in part, on the geolocation at which the particular image was captured.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A computer-implemented method, the method comprising: obtaining, by a computing system comprising one or more processor devices, a plurality of images and associated image information, each of the plurality of images depicting a same particular Point of Interest (POI), the image information being descriptive of a plurality of image characteristics for each of the plurality of images, the plurality of image characteristics comprising: (a) geolocation characteristics indicative of geolocations at which the plurality of images were captured; and (b) interaction metrics derived from previous user interactions with the plurality of images; selecting, by the computing system, a particular image of the plurality of images based on the image information; determining, by the computing system, an orbit speed for a movement pattern of a camera viewpoint within a three-dimensional environment based at least in part on a distance between the camera viewpoint and the particular POI; and generating, by the computing system, the movement pattern for the camera viewpoint within the three-dimensional environment, wherein the movement pattern for the camera viewpoint moves around a three-dimensional representation of the particular POI, depicted in the particular image, within the three-dimensional environment, and wherein a starting position for the movement pattern is based, at least in part, on the geolocation at which the particular image was captured.

Facts

Company
Google (Google LLC)
Official title
Optimizing views of three-dimensional entities from clusters of public, posed images
Patent number
US12731339B2
Application number
18491216
Filed
Oct 20, 2023
Granted
Sep 8, 2026
Inventors
1
Claims
20

Classified under

G06T 19/003 Physics & computingG06T 15/06 Physics & computingG06V 10/762 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.