PhotoCloud: interactive remote exploration of large 2D-3D datasets

We introduce PhotoCloud, a realtime client-server system for interactive visualization and exploration of large mixed datasets composed of several thousands of calibrated 2D photographs, together with a high-complexity 3D description of the scene. The system is not tailored to any specific data acquisition process, but aims at generality and flexibility. PhotoCloud embeds several state-of-the-art techniques. We achieve scalability by means of multiresolution dynamic hierarchical representation of the data, which is remotely stored and accessed by the client through an efficient cache system. In the visualization we include an advanced compact image-browser and a multiresolution model renderer. We integrate PhotoCloud with iconic visualization of the images in the 3D space and on-the-fly projection of the selected image on the 3D scene. We drive navigation in both the 2D and the 3D spaces with smooth, integrated, seamless transitions between them. A user study conducted with differently skilled users confirms PhotoCloud effectiveness and communication power.