Real-time lines-of-sight and viewsheds determination system
US8400448B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 10, 2009 |
| Grant date | Mar 19, 2013 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 25, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T17/05
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method for processing three-dimensional data that defines a three-dimensional scene, and determining and displaying lines-of-sight (LOS) and viewsheds on all visible surfaces of the scene, includes: i) assigning at a user-selected location at least one viewpoint in the scene; ii) applying ray tracing from locations in the scene to the viewpoint to determine locations in the scene that are in a line of sight (LOS) and outside the LOS of the viewpoint, thus determining the viewshed relative to the viewpoint while generating a set of color-coding information; iv) saving the set of color-coding information as a 2D texture image in graphics hardware memory; and v) compositing the 2D texture image over the 3D scene in a 3D window at a frame rate that enables real-time updating of the color coding as the scene is translated or rotated or the viewpoint is changed.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.