The Augmented Scene: Integrating the Map and the Environment

This paper develops a theoretical and technological foundation for a new kind of interactive map, the augmented scene, that overlays acquired imagery of the environment on a perspective model of the surface in real time. The ground position and viewing direction of users are computed automatically, freeing them from the map orientation process. We define augmented scenes, propose some applications for them, discuss their construction and use, determine the effects of positional and directional error on system performance, explore their data struc ture, and review a prototype system under development.