It’s been quite sometime now since Google launched their controversial Streetview feature. Anyone can access digital images of streets located all around the world. And now, the virtual world is going to increase in size by help of a group of Brazilian environmentalists who plan to create a 3D on-the-ground view of Tumbira—one of Earth’s most remote areas located at the center of the Brazilian Amazon rain forest. According to Google, the aims of this endeavor are to show the living conditions of the people in the area and to inform the public about the efforts done to protect the forest.

Tumbira has been visited by the Google team which was invited by the Foundation for Sustainable Development helping the residents within the Amazon reserves. Raquel Luna, FAS’ education coordinator said that, “One thing we always want people to know is that the Amazon is not only about trees and biodiversity…but it’s also about people, and communities here and sustainable living of these communities”.

Google has already mounted its cameras to capture pictures of the trails and around the jungle. Karin Tuxen-Bettman, a geostrategist for Google supervised the entire work and claims that in just a few more weeks, the images captured will be ready for Internet users to admire.

Once the images of Tumbira are stitched together, the product will be posted on Google Earth Outreach to provide ground-to-sky photographs of the spots which are isolated.  

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The 3D creating backpack has 4 lasers and cameras which map the interior as the wearer walks

At UC Berkeley, the same team behind 3D views of major cities on Google Earth has created a mapping technology “that scans its surroundings and creates an instant 3D model”. The device takes the form of a backpack, where an array of lasers, cameras, and an Inertial Measurement Unit all combine to form a final product of a 3D, textured model. Lasers calculate geometry of the surroundings, while the cameras capture panoramic textures of the area behind the pack. Although Google Earth’s 3D images were created using GPS technology, the same cannot be said for the 3D Backpack. Since GPS and satellite imagery does not work indoors, the IMU combined with the geometry of lasers, localize the pack, allowing for the precise navigation of an indoor environment.

Professor Avideh Zakhor, who leads the team at Cal Berkeley says, “One day, you’ll have a little pack of sensors on your belt. And, as you walk inside buildings, you collect data about everything. Every location in the universe, both indoors and outdoors will eventually be mapped and we’ll have it all online. So, without ever going anywhere, you can see what everybody’s interior looks like.” Good or bad,  an indoor 3D model would trump having to read those confusing mall maps.

Innovative and cutting-edge, the team at Cal Berkeley is trailblazing into the 3D era.

Laser backpack creates instant 3D models [KGO-TV San Francisco]
Laser backpack creates instant 3D maps, Venkman reminds you to not cross the streams (video) [engadget]
Automated, 3D Modeling of Building Interiors [UC Berkeley]

The post UC Berkeley team creates indoor 3D laser mapping technology… in a backpack appeared first on Mobile Magazine.