Online Reconstruction of Textured Triangle Meshes from Aerial Images

In this paper we present and evaluate a new online reconstruction algorithm to create a textured triangle mesh from a set of aerial images via an unorganized point cloud. Both the point cloud and the mesh are iteratively refined while allowing new aerial images to be added at any time during reconstruction. Texture coordinates are learnt to instantly visualize an initially rough approximation that gets refined as more data becomes available. The new algorithm improves upon other systems that require the complete data to be acquired beforehand, and that apply offline, non-iterative reconstruction and processing. Thus, our algorithm is perfectly suited for time-critical applications, e. g., strategical visualization platforms for disaster and emergency response.