[OSM-talk] Three-dimensional aerial imagery

[andrzej zaborowski]

On 14 May 2011 18:16, Ed Avis <eda en waniasset.com> wrote:
> I saw this news story about how three-dimensional aerial photos, viewed with
> special glasses, make it easier to pick out structures on the ground.
>
> <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13359064>
>
> I wonder if any such 3-d imagery is available today?  It would seem to involve
> having two cameras a set distance apart.  If OSM ever charters a plane again, as
> was done for Stratford-upon-Avon, England, a few years back, it might be worth
> taking two cameras instead of one.

The techniques and the software used in aerial imagery normally
struggle to reduce the perspective effect to the minimum, so that the
view is almost isometric.  One of the advantages of that is that you
can pan around the single image and have the illusion of flying over
the terrain.  With the perspective effect you couldn't do that, you
would just have 3D views from a few discrete points like in Google
StreetView.  You also wouldn't be able to rotate the imagery like you
can in Nearmap or Bing, because your eyes won't rotate.

If you want that, though, I don't think you need to resurvey
Stratford-upon-Avon with two cameras.  With the camera shooting
continuously you can just pick pairs of consecutive images that are
some known distance apart and you get the same effect.

Cheers