BubbleView images and control

The BubbleView is an intuitive method for viewing and interacting with data from a laser scan. It enables the user to place themselves at any scan location and visualize the scene as if they are standing there.

The BubbleView provides the user with a dynamic but narrow field of view at any one time, which will reduce perspective distortion in the image. A BubbleView allows true 360° rotation of the image with both directional and magnification control. Comprehensive measurement and Markup facilities are also available within the BubbleView environment.

Viewer BubbleViews are 3D enabled and can display objects, project tags, Markups, objects and measurements.

A mini floorplan window is available in the open BubbleView. This provides a viewing frustum which is updated in real time to reflect the current field of view. As a user zooms in to focus on a point of interest, the frustum narrows in unison. This can be toggled on or off in the Options menu.

On the left, you can view up to 5 recent scans that have been opened within a project.

At the bottom of the BubbleView there is a ‘dead’ zone, this area does not contain any laser data. This area can display a navigational compass by default or a user uploaded image such as a company logo. The upload of the logo is done through the Upload tab on the Administration page for the project.

Switching between colour and intensity

For colour scans it is sometimes desirable to view the intensity data without the colour overlaid. This can be for scans taken in poor lighting conditions or if a shadow is obscuring an item of interest.

To do this, select the colour/intensity switch from the Tools Pill Menu at the bottom of the BubbleView. Note that this switch will only be present in scans where colour is available.

Loading other scans from within the current BubbleView

In the Floorplan section, we saw how to load a BubbleView directly from the floorplan. BubbleViews can also be located and launched from within the current open BubbleView. Again, other scan sites are displayed as blue markers. The markers are scaled according to range – scan sites closer to the current BubbleView are larger; scan sites further away from the current BubbleView are smaller.

The range of scan locations displayed can be configured by the user through the BubbleView Options. It is advisable to reduce the range figure on densely scanned projects, so they do not overpopulate the currently loaded BubbleView with scan site markers.

Markers with a red center represent unloaded scans. Markers with a green center represent loaded scans. Markers with a line through the center (as shown above) represent scans that are obscured from the current viewpoint.

To load scans from the current BubbleView:

• Double-click on a scan site (or)

• Double tap on a scan site

For standard laptop or desktop computers, user control movements are illustrated as follows:

To Pan: Left mouse click and drag

To Zoom: Roll mouse wheel

For mobile devices, user control movements are illustrated as follows:

To Pan: Finger press and drag

Zoom: Pinch

You can now reverse the direction of Pan in the BubbleView settings in the Options menu.