A 2D and 3D Indoor Mapping Approach for Virtual Navigation Services

Specific navigation systems are necessary to navigate in complex buildings and these should provide a realistic virtual indoor environment. A key issue is creation and management of building documentation. Map information is typically proprietary, sometimes recorded on heterogeneous media, and it is even volatile, such as layouts in a shopping mall, where change is continuous. In order to create a navigation system with a realistic indoor virtual environment, we propose a 2D and 3D indoor mapping approach, which is a key module of indoor services life cycle. Our approach is based on a 3D game engine, which 1) can build an effective 2D SVG map that updates selectively, 2) converts it into a 3D virtual scene automatically at back-end, 3) includes an information management system at back-end, 4) renders and interacts efficiently and effectively on a smart phone, and 5) provides a vivid virtual indoor visualization for users' navigation at front-end. Our solution of back-end includes 2D SVG indoor map management and 3D indoor model creation. Front-end includes indoor 3D modeling and navigation scene implementation in Unity3D. Such indoor mapping approach provides a solid foundation for further indoor management and navigation services.