The Oriented Imagery widget allows you to interact with and visualize imagery that's taken from any angle (such as street-side and 360-degree imagery) in a 2D or 3D map.
Open the imagery viewer
To get started, click a point of interest in the map to open the imagery viewer. Use the viewer to explore every image in the oriented imagery catalog (OIC) that depicts the clicked point, which is marked with a red x on the map and in each image. In addition, you can use the following keyboard shortcuts to explore a point of interest:
- Alt+click—Press the Alt key and click in the imagery viewer to display a corresponding reference point in the map (and vice versa). (Accuracy is dependent on the available metadata.)
- Ctrl+click—Press the Ctrl key and click in the imagery viewer to select a new point of interest in the map (marked with a red x) and display in the viewer the best available imagery for that point of interest.
Tool descriptions
The imagery viewer has a variety of tools to navigate and investigate images in an OIC.
Zoom in
Increase the magnification of the central point of the image incrementally. Once zoomed in, you can drag the image around to bring other areas of the image into view.
Zoom out
Decrease the magnification of the central point of the image incrementally. If not zoomed out completely, you can drag the image around to bring other areas of the image into view.
Navigation tool
Visualize all the images that contain the selected point, which is depicted as a red x on the map, in the imagery viewer and at the center of the navigation tool. The navigation tool is a compass that depicts the camera locations for all relevant images, with the selected point in the center. The tool is divided into four quadrants (north, south, east, and west); each quadrant is divided into three segments, which show the relative distance of each camera location from the selected point.
The image shown in the imagery viewer appears as a red dot on the compass, and the viewshed of the camera is shown in green. Any additional images that depict the red x appear as blue dots on the compass. You can view a different image by clicking a blue dot in the navigation tool, or by clicking a ring segment. If you click a ring segment, the navigation tool selects the best image from all the camera points that lie within that ring. Increase the size of the tool by clicking the outer ring segment. To hide the red x in the image, click the x in the center of the navigation tool.
Image enhancement
Interactively adjust the contrast and brightness of the image.
Overlays
Choose from vector layers to display on top of the image in the imagery viewer. The Camera locations layer is available by default. If you turn on the Camera locations layer, it displays any additional camera locations that are visible in the current image as orange and green dots (orange if they depict the red x and green if they don't). You can select any of these dots to view the image that was taken from that location.
You can collect and edit points, polylines, polygons, and labels in the viewer using the overlays tool. View the Digitize in Oriented Imagery story to learn more about digitizing in the oriented imagery viewer.
Measurement
Perform in-image measurements by clicking in the imagery viewer and selecting one of four mensuration tools (available with the appropriate metadata):
- Location—Click the image to return the x,y of that point.
- Distance—Click two locations in an image to find an estimate of the distance between them.
- Horizontal Area—Draw a polygon in an image, clicking to add vertices and double-clicking to end drawing. The tool computes an estimate of the area on the ground contained in the image.
- Height Above Ground—Draw a vertical line to find the approximate height above ground in meters.
Note:
The accuracy of these measurements is highly dependent on the accuracy of the available metadata, including orientation and the available elevation model or depth image. Additionally, unless a depth image is available, only points on the ground should be selected for location, horizontal distance, and area.
Auto-switch mode
Switch the imagery viewer to a related image when you drag an image and reach the edge. This tool moves the red x on the map. There are three options:
- Preserve camera angle—Switch to a new image that is facing approximately the same direction as the current image. When you drag and reach the edge of the current image, the imagery viewer switches to the best image that contains that ground point and is facing in the same direction as the previous image.
- Any camera angle—Switch to the best image in any direction (north, south, east, or west). When you drag and reach the edge of the current image, the imagery viewer switches to the best image of all the images that contain that ground point.
- Rotate—Approximates panoramic view. For example, if you drag until you reach the right edge of an image that's pointing north, the imagery viewer switches to the best image facing east. If you drag until you reach the right edge, the viewer switches to the best image pointing south, and so on. This mode takes into consideration both heading and pitch to find the best image.
Superimpose view
Superimpose the image into a 3D web scene on top of vector layers and 3D data layers, including point cloud layers, mesh layers, and building layers. This tool is only available with 3D scenes on the web.
- Image depth—Interactively adjust the position of the image superimposed in the scene. Move the slider to the left to see more of the image, or move the slider right to see more of the data layers.
- Release camera—Remove the image from the 3D web scene and unlock the position of the web scene camera so you can select a new point of interest in the scene.
Note:
Appropriate image metadata is required for Superimpose view. Videos are currently not supported in Superimpose view.
Image attributes
Show attributes for the current image (default oriented imagery attributes are not shown).
Time selector
Select from a list of dates. Filter images based on days, weeks, months, and years. This tool is only available with some OICs.
Depth image
Show an image in the imagery viewer that depicts the depth of objects for the current image (when it has appropriate metadata). This tool is only available with some OICs.
Image gallery
View thumbnails of all the images in the OIC that contain the selected point. Use this tool to preview the images or to select a different image to view in the imagery viewer. This tool is only available with some OICs.
Filter
Select from a list of custom filters. Only the records that meet the selected filter criteria are returned. For example, if you select North, only images that meet that criteria (taken facing north) are returned. This tool is only available with some OICs.