A visualization of the MIT City Scanning Project

Abstract

This thesis describes the production of a computer animated visualization of the MIT City Scanning Project. The main goal of the City Scanning Project is the implementation of an automated, end-to-end system to construct three-dimensional (3D) models of urban areas. The Project encompasses both the acquisition of digital images and navigation data in the region to be modeled and the development of algorithms that use the collected data to reconstruct a 3D model of the region. Through narration and animation, the visualization presents a comprehensive overview of the Project, including its motivation, methods, results, and future. This paper describes both the creative and technical aspects involved in the design, animation, rendering, and recording of the visualization.