Visualization of Weather-Aware Ambient Heat Risks With Global Illumination in Game Engine

Abstract

In recent years, the risk of heat stroke has been increasing due to global warming and other factors, and the Ministry of the Environment has been using the heat index to alert people in urban areas. Still, citizens need help knowing the detailed risk information for their neighborhoods. The heat index considers the human body's heat balance and is measured with specialized instruments, so comprehensive and high-density measurement is difficult. In this research, by using global illumination (GI) and primary weather data obtained from the Open Weather Map API for each area, we can realistically render the sunlight condition considering the weather and map and visualize the heat index per pixel based on shaded CG. Furthermore, by reconstructing urban 3D geometry from Google Maps, we have developed a system that visualizes the ever-changing heat index distribution for an arbitrary location in real time. The system has shown the possibility of reducing the number of heat stroke patients by using this system