TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to generating models of an environment, and particularly to aligning a three dimensional model of the environment generated based on depth information (such as light detection and ranging or LIDAR data) with image frames of the environment and presenting a portion of the three dimensional model with a corresponding image frame.

BACKGROUND

Images of an environment can be useful for reviewing details associated with the environment without having to visit the environment in person. For example, a realtor may wish to create a virtual tour of a house by capturing a series of photographs of the rooms in the house to allow interested parties to view the house virtually. Similarly, a contractor may wish to monitor progress on a construction site by capturing images of the construction site at various points during constructions and comparing images captured at different times. However, images are limited to two dimensions (2D), so a three dimensional (3D) model of the environment may be generated using a LIDAR system to provide additional details about the environment. When multiple representations of the environment are presented simultaneously, it can provide more useful insights about the environment compared to when the images and 3D model are considered separately. However, when there is a large volume of images and a separate 3D model, it can be difficult and time consuming to manually review the images and match images to corresponding portions of the 3D model.

SUMMARY

A spatial indexing system receives image frames captured in an environment and LIDAR data collected in the same environment and aligns a 3D model generated based on the LIDAR data with the image frames. The spatial indexing system aligns the 3D model with the image frames by mapping each image frame to a portion of the 3D model. In some embodiments, the images frames and the LIDAR data are captured at the same time by a mobile device as the mobile device is moved through the environment, and image frames are mapped to the LIDAR data based on timestamps. In some embodiments, the video capture system and the LIDAR system are separate systems, and the image frames are mapped to the 3D model based on feature vectors. After the alignment, the spatial indexing system generates an interface that presents a selected portion of the 3D model and an image frame that corresponds to the selected portion of the 3D model.

