Abstract: In the management of street view facades based on panoramic images, it is necessary to jump to the panoramic image that is closest to the target facade and face it right at the front as much as possible. However, the conventional jumping methods cannot meet this demand. To solve this problem, a new method of plane detecting and jumping for panorama images is proposed. Based on the scene depth image of the panoramic image, calculate the world coordinates of the target point as well as the average normal direction of the patch formed by the target point and its neighboring points, so as to achieve the plane detection in the panoramic image. Starting from the target point, search along the average normal direction for the panoramic image whose viewpoint is the closest to the ray. Switch to the target image, and rotate the angle of view based on the orientation of the target point in the target panorama image. The successful application in practical projects in Chongqing and the case study results show that the proposed new method can meet the requirements of facade management and jump to the better neighboring panoramic image facing the target facade. The application effect of the new method is also better than that of conventional jumping method.

Key words: panorama image, plane detection, scene depth image, building facade management, mobile mapping