Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for creating a floor plan from a spherical image. A spherical format is created of an image obtained by a camera, wherein the spherical format has a centre that corresponds to the position from which the image was obtained by the camera, and wherein a first surface represented in the image had a first orientation and was at a first distance from the camera when the image was obtained. A plurality of selected points are obtained in the spherical format, each defined by spherical coordinates consisting of a yaw angle and a pitch angle defining a line from the centre. A plane is identified that has the first orientation and that is at the first distance from the centre of the sphere. For each of the selected points, a location in a Cartesian coordinate system is identified where the line from the centre of the sphere to the selected point intersects with the first plane, two of the axes of the Cartesian coordinate system being parallel to the first plane.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for transforming data provided in a spherical format. A spherical format is created of an image obtained by a camera, the spherical format comprising a notional sphere that has a centre corresponding to the position from which the image was obtained by the camera. A first surface represented in the image had a first orientation and was at a first distance from the camera when the image was obtained. A selected point in said spherical format is obtained, which is defined by spherical coordinates consisting of a yaw angle and a pitch angle defining a line from the centre of the sphere. A plane is identified that has the first orientation and is at the first distance from the centre. A location in a Cartesian coordinate system is calculated where the plane intersects with the line, wherein two of the axes of the Cartesian coordinate system are parallel to the first plane. Thereby, the position of the point on the first surface is identified.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for identifying the orientation of an image in a spherical format. A spherical format is created of an image obtained by a camera, the spherical format comprising a notional sphere that has a centre corresponding to the position from which the image was obtained by the camera. A first surface represented in the image had a first orientation and was at a first distance from the camera when the image was obtained. A plurality of lines are obtained in the spherical format, each line defined by two endpoints in spherical coordinates, wherein each line intersects with at least one other line. For each of a plurality of rotational definitions of the sphere, the spherical coordinates of the endpoints are transformed into a Cartesian coordinate system relative to the rotational definition, thereby creating rotated lines, and a cumulative deviation, from a predetermined angle, is determined of angles between intersecting rotated lines.

Abstract: A method of generating and displaying a virtual map is provided. First and second images are obtained, each image representing a physical space, which may have an equirectangular projection. For each of these images, a projection is generated and output for display. These projections may be circular, and may have a smaller blank circle at the center. Indications are received, possibly via manual input, representing a point in each projection. These are stored in position data, which includes identifications of the points and an indication that the two points are connected. Multiple points in multiple projections may be identified and stored in the position data. First and second display projections of the images are rendered for display, each including a display element corresponding to the identified position within each image. These display projections are outputted for display as a virtual map.