Sphere2: Jerry's rig, an OpenGL application for non-linear panorama viewing and interaction

Abstract

Given a set of images, or time-lapsed imagery, that is captured in an unconstrained domain, there are numerous methods to map that data into a domain that is readily displayable on basic rectilinear digital displays. However, while these mappings can be mathematically sound, they are methods that modify the spatio-temporal “scale” of the scene, and thus can become quite semantically confusing when viewed in this manner. In working with data to be mathematically and scientifically analyzed, we have found that we also require a level of semantic consistency, such as in providing accessible imagery for expert annotation or in generating “virtual field trips”. This is why we have applied the same mathematical rigor to instead develop an interactive, OpenGL-based viewing application for spatio-temporally non-linear imagery. This application is extensible and entirely custom, such that we can not only interact with single sets of related imagery, but also view the relationships across sets of imagery in a semantically viable, and mathematically sound, domain.