Panoramic Mapping with Information Technologies for Supporting Engineering Education: A Preliminary Exploration

Abstract

The present researchers took multistation-based panoramic images and imported the processed images into a virtual tour platform to create webpages and a virtual reality environment. The integrated multimedia platform aims to assist students in a surveying practice course. A questionnaire survey was conducted to evaluate the platform’s usefulness to students, and its design was modified according to respondents’ feedback. Panoramic photos were taken using a full-frame digital single-lens reflex camera with an ultra-wide-angle zoom lens mounted on a panoramic instrument. The camera took photos at various angles, generating a visual field with horizontal and vertical viewing angles close to 360°. Multiple overlapping images were stitched to form a complete panoramic image for each capturing station. Image stitching entails extracting feature points to verify the correspondence between the same feature point in different images (i.e., tie points). By calculating the root mean square error of a stitched image, we determined the stitching quality and modified the tie point location when necessary. The root mean square errors of nearly all panoramas were lower than 5 pixels, meeting the recommended stitching standard. Additionally, 92% of the respondents (n = 62) considered the platform helpful for their surveying practice course. We also discussed and provided suggestions for the improvement of panoramic image quality, camera parameter settings, and panoramic image processing.