Generation of wide-range virtual spaces using photographic images

A new methodology to generate image-based wide-range virtual spaces is introduced. The basic principle is to display appropriate images accompanied by user's interaction, using position data. For this methodology, a huge image database indexed by position data must be sampled from the real world. A prototype of a vehicle-mounted image capturing system is developed for this purpose. The relationship between image distortion and the error of sensors when applying the morphing technique to this system is also discussed. At the end of this paper, an image-based walk-through system is actually demonstrated and the potential advantages of this methodology are discussed as an example.