<p>Google said how in 2012, avoiding explaining too many details</p>

<p><a href="https://googleblog.blogspot.it/2012/06/never-ending-quest-for-perfect-map.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The never-ending quest for the perfect map</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>...new imagery rendering techniques and computer vision that let us
  automatically create 3D cityscapes, complete with buildings, terrain
  and even landscaping, from 45-degree aerial imagery</p>
</blockquote>

<p>and here it's a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=44&amp;v=N6Douyfa7l8" rel="nofollow noreferrer">video</a> of the feature.</p>

<p>So we know that "Computer Vision" is used. I guess the edges are detected, along with the shadows, to build the elevation of the object. Then the segmented image is used as a texture on the built mesh.</p>

<p>However, i saw <a href="http://iris.usc.edu/outlines/papers/1998/lin-cviu98.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this paper</a> linked, and i think a similar technique is used in Google to extract the 3d mesh from different 45° images.</p>

<p>There are a lot of papers (a book too) about "building extraction/detection".</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.asprs.org/a/publications/proceedings/Louisville2014/Jabari_1.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Detection of buildings in urban and suburban areas using very high resolution satellite</a></li>
<li><a href="https://scholar.google.it/scholar?q=Building+Detection" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Google Scholar: Building Detection</a></li>
<li><a href="https://scholar.google.it/scholar?q=Building%20Detection%20from%20Satellite%20Images&amp;btnG=&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0%2C5&amp;as_vis=1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Google Scholar: Building Detection from Satellite Images</a></li>
</ul>

<p>src: <a href="https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/202599/how-does-the-new-google-maps-make-buildings-and-cityscapes-3d">How does the new google maps make buildings and cityscapes 3D?</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-07T20:34:05.963Z
2015-10-07T20:34:05.963Z
2017-04-12T07:32:01.480Z
psicomante
<p>I recently noticed that in some locations you could switch to a 3d mapping mode in Google Street View.<br>
Which algorithm(s) did they use to generate the 3d models of the streets? I assume it was more than just capture, given the huge amount of data that would be necessary to produce an accurate representation of the streets.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-09-23T08:43:29.903Z
There are many scanning techniques. Becuase they have a camera, and a accurate position sensor, that is basically a video you could use video tracking techniques to produce point clouds and build polygonmodels out of that.  (for some ideas see https://www.ssontech.com/learning.html great resource even if you dont use their apps)
joojaa
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-07T18:35:40.373Z
I have actually designed and implemented (with help of my colleague) an algorithm to create 3D mesh of the city from the data that is collected (for a competitor company). However, what you're asking would require breaking NDA and I don't believe any sane person would be willing to do that, so your question can only be truly answered by developers who have worked on something like this in their spare time and thus are not bound by legal paperwork (regardless of whether they still work for that company or not).
3D Coder
<algorithm><3d><mapping><model>
What algorithm(s) are behind Google Street View's 3d mapping mode?
wip
# What algorithm(s) are behind Google Street View's 3d mapping mode?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-09-23)

I recently noticed that in some locations you could switch to a 3d mapping mode in Google Street View.  
Which algorithm(s) did they use to generate the 3d models of the streets? I assume it was more than just capture, given the huge amount of data that would be necessary to produce an accurate representation of the streets.

**Tags:** algorithm, 3d, mapping, model

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: There are many scanning techniques. Becuase they have a camera, and a accurate position sensor, that is basically a video you could use video tracking techniques to produce point clouds and build polygonmodels out of that.  (for some ideas see https://www.ssontech.com/learning.html great resource even if you dont use their apps)  
> **username_2**: I have actually designed and implemented (with help of my colleague) an algorithm to create 3D mesh of the city from the data that is collected (for a competitor company). However, what you're asking would require breaking NDA and I don't believe any sane person would be willing to do that, so your question can only be truly answered by developers who have worked on something like this in their spare time and thus are not bound by legal paperwork (regardless of whether they still work for that company or not).  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2015-10-07. Score: 3

Google said how in 2012, avoiding explaining too many details

[The never-ending quest for the perfect map](https://googleblog.blogspot.it/2012/06/never-ending-quest-for-perfect-map.html)

> ...new imagery rendering techniques and computer vision that let us
> automatically create 3D cityscapes, complete with buildings, terrain
> and even landscaping, from 45-degree aerial imagery

and here it's a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=44&v=N6Douyfa7l8) of the feature.

So we know that "Computer Vision" is used. I guess the edges are detected, along with the shadows, to build the elevation of the object. Then the segmented image is used as a texture on the built mesh.

However, i saw [this paper](http://iris.usc.edu/outlines/papers/1998/lin-cviu98.pdf) linked, and i think a similar technique is used in Google to extract the 3d mesh from different 45° images.

There are a lot of papers (a book too) about "building extraction/detection".

* [Detection of buildings in urban and suburban areas using very high resolution satellite](http://www.asprs.org/a/publications/proceedings/Louisville2014/Jabari_1.pdf)
* [Google Scholar: Building Detection](https://scholar.google.it/scholar?q=Building+Detection)
* [Google Scholar: Building Detection from Satellite Images](https://scholar.google.it/scholar?q=Building%20Detection%20from%20Satellite%20Images&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&as_vis=1)

src: [How does the new google maps make buildings and cityscapes 3D?](https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/202599/how-does-the-new-google-maps-make-buildings-and-cityscapes-3d)


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