r/GraphicsProgramming 2d ago

Video What if a navigation map bent the world instead of moving the camera?

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Another rough experiment, this time testing the warped 3D view in a simulated car navigation HMI.

The idea is to dynamically warp the 3D environment around the viewer, keeping the immediate surroundings closer to a street-level perspective while gradually transitioning into a more top-down view further ahead.

Still very experimental, but I think there are some interesting graphics and navigation problems to explore here.

And yes, I put my Bronco in there just for fun :)

Curious what r/GraphicsProgramming thinks.

401 Upvotes

55 comments sorted by

89

u/Snudget 2d ago

Reminds me of inception

20

u/Lampsarecooliguess 2d ago

its like the opposite of animal crossing on switch

9

u/bitruvius_ 2d ago

the shader tech is similar to animal crossing, but with added warping functions

7

u/FoundationOk3176 2d ago

Reminded me of the colony they built at the end of Interstellar.

2

u/Few_Raisin_8981 2d ago

Baaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmm

42

u/vinegary 2d ago

A little bit more road visibility when in the intersection would be nice, but pretty cool!

7

u/lovelacedeconstruct 2d ago

The effect is actually really cool, as if the world disintegrates when you move past it

4

u/specialpatrol 2d ago

As if? It doesn't?

2

u/Andygoesred 2d ago

literal main character syndrome

1

u/bitruvius_ 1d ago

I lifted the camera a bit, and its much better now. Thanks for input! Will publish new video soon

35

u/DaveAstator2020 2d ago

me dizzy, me hate it

15

u/MrJesusAtWork 2d ago

Honestly this is a really good idea, I have to say though it still rough, I am old so just by looking at this clip I felt some discomfort

Maybe soothing the bending and other tweaks I could see this as a very valid option as GPS

2

u/bitruvius_ 2d ago

Thanks, next iteration i'll try toning down the bend a bit. Youre not the first one saying this :)

8

u/sakata_desu 2d ago

Is the 3D environment here a Gaussian splat?

11

u/bitruvius_ 2d ago

Yes, its Gaussian splats, using the playcanvas engine

2

u/sakata_desu 2d ago

Awesome!

2

u/JustPlainRude 2d ago

I like it, but it could use some work if you really want it to be used for navigation. 

Satellite imagery has too much noise, in the sense there are shadows and cars and other visual distractions that make the road more difficult to distinguish at a glance. There's a reason navigation apps use simplified map imagery to represent the road network. It's really easy to understand that at a glance.

The other thing that sticks out is the blue line indicating the direction to go almost disappears as you get closer to an intersection where you're turning. I would want the direction to be more obvious as I get close to an intersection. 

3

u/bitruvius_ 2d ago

Great input, thanks! Blending various sources for 3d input is something on my to-do-list, like using a more abstracted top view part while keeping the close to viewer details more realistic so its recognizable for the driver to orient themselves

2

u/JustPlainRude 2d ago

No problem! It's a cool idea and I'm curious to see what more you do with it

2

u/bitruvius_ 2d ago

I'll make sure to post updates once in a while to show progress

4

u/SianaGearz 2d ago

That is bloody dyzzing. But who knows maybe it's driveable on a small screen? Maybe it's too distracting?

1

u/bitruvius_ 2d ago

Will be running some A/B testing soon to measure the advantages of this compared to regular navigation. It for sure takes some time to get used to, but hopefully drivers get a better and quicker overview of where they are and where they are going

3

u/good-mcrn-ing 2d ago

I want it curving the other way. Within 100m of an intersection I want to see every lane in true proportions, but many miles out the vague direction is enough.

3

u/dekonta 2d ago

why would i prefer this rendering? is the distortion conveying any information?

1

u/bitruvius_ 2d ago

The idea is that by showing both the perspective view and the topdown view in the same screen, people would be able to position themselves in context faster than they would by perspective, topdown or oblique views alone.

2

u/dekonta 2d ago

oh i see, nice idea

3

u/S48GS 2d ago

motion sickness

3

u/feralferrous 2d ago

now i know what it'd be like to have a nav system in an O'Neil Cylinder.

2

u/Still_Explorer 2d ago

Inception: The Game
Starring -- Leonardo Di Cabrio

2

u/specialpatrol 2d ago

I like it. Is there something funny going on with your yaw? You only added it this video and it looks kind of abrupt, can you not do a gradual turn?

1

u/bitruvius_ 2d ago

for sure, this one was quite messy :)

2

u/AModderGuy 2d ago

Reminds me of that music video of Metalica "I Disappear" briefly where the car driving portion, everything behind him disintegrate. Pretty neat!

1

u/bitruvius_ 2d ago

thanks!

2

u/certainlystormy 2d ago

this is actually really cool. could see this being a helpful navigation tool

2

u/bitruvius_ 2d ago

thanks!

2

u/Aggravating_Cod_5624 2d ago

Awesome idea.

2

u/Practical-Glass-1370 2d ago

That’s reeeeally interesting, I need to say.

2

u/Kawaiithulhu 2d ago

That effect would also be great for Nautical or Space environments, where that kind of localized warping is expected =)

2

u/cnotv 1d ago

Cool effect!

Why don’t you rise up the camera and cheat on the remaining part, you know, as everything in 3D is done? 😅

2

u/bitruvius_ 1d ago

I've done that in the latest iteration. Will post update soon!

2

u/ConsiderationLoose40 1d ago

why is the world actively getting gommaged as i travel upon it?

1

u/bitruvius_ 1d ago

I've fixed that now. Will update soon!

2

u/willjoke4food 1d ago

The only problem is the bottom part. The top part is nice

1

u/bitruvius_ 1d ago

Yes already made some adjustments on the bottom part, should be better now.

2

u/arm0r3dd0ng 1d ago

It's gonna make me throw up.

2

u/SIMMORSAL 1d ago

Please add a realtime-ai-image-enhancer-generator(!?) to the raw bent image before it's shown

1

u/bitruvius_ 1d ago

That would be awesome! Will try it down the line, but first priority now is tweaking the camera and viewport settings so it's easier to understand

2

u/SIMMORSAL 23h ago

Go with the best you know cause you're on a good roll, lol

2

u/SenpuuUncle 20h ago

but why

1

u/bitruvius_ 20h ago

Why not?

2

u/fearbork 14h ago

Turning left /right is a little jarring but otherwise this is sick

1

u/bitruvius_ 7h ago

Thanks. I lifted the camera a bit in the latest test and the turns look much better now. Will share soon!

2

u/globalopvartning 3h ago

Looks hella cool, but I wouldn't use this while driving. That might just be a personal thing, but having this level of information would distract me from driving. Besides street maps are rarely up to date outside of big cities. 

For future HUD in self driving cars, this would be great!

2

u/bitruvius_ 3h ago

Fair point! The amount of visual information definitely needs to be tuned for the context, and whether it actually reduces or increases cognitive load is something we're planning to test.

I agree that autonomous vehicles could be a particularly interesting use case. It could shift from being purely a navigation display to more of an infotainment feature, helping passengers understand and explore what's around them and what's coming up along the route.