  Existing simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms are not
robust in challenging low-texture environments because there are only few
salient features. The resulting sparse or semi-dense map also conveys little
information for motion planning. Though some work utilize plane or scene layout
for dense map regularization, they require decent state estimation from other
sources. In this paper, we propose real-time monocular plane SLAM to
demonstrate that scene understanding could improve both state estimation and
dense mapping especially in low-texture environments. The plane measurements
come from a pop-up 3D plane model applied to each single image. We also combine
planes with point based SLAM to improve robustness. On a public TUM dataset,
our algorithm generates a dense semantic 3D model with pixel depth error of 6.2
cm while existing SLAM algorithms fail. On a 60 m long dataset with loops, our
method creates a much better 3D model with state estimation error of 0.67%.
