Game Engine-based Point Cloud Visualization and Perception for Situation Awareness of Crisis Indoor Environments

Abstract

Because unknown interior layouts can have serious consequences in time-sensitive situations, crisis response teams request many potential solutions for visualizing indoor environments in crisis scenarios. This research uses a game engine to directly visualize point cloud data input of indoor environments for generating clear interaction between the environment and viewers, to aid decision-making in high-stress moments. The prospective final product is an integration of game-oriented visualization and cartography, hosted within Unreal Engine 4 (UE4), allowing users to navigate throughout an indoor environment, and customizing certain interaction features. The UE4 project consists of 4 modules: data preprocessing, render style, functional module, and user interface. Finally, this research uses a single-floor indoor point cloud dataset collected from a building in Rotterdam, the Netherlands for the implementation.