THE VIRTUAL LOS ANGELES PROJECT

The UCLA Urban Simulation Team is in the process of creating a virtual model of the entire Los Angeles basin. This area comprises well over 4,000 square miles. The model is extremely accurate and provides a level of visual feedback to the user which allows the immediate recognition of the present location identification of visual landmarks.

Rather than attempt to build one large model from scratch, the Team has defined a methodology which allows multiple small models to be created and linked together. To date more than a dozen separate area models have been built, ranging in size from one to fifteen square miles. This approach allows the Team to work with various public and private entities who have an interest in studying specific areas of Los Angeles. The approach also allows our clients to commission models which respond to their particular needs, while we extend our urban database. The methodologies which the Team employs to build these models have reached the level of cost efficiency where we consistently have a six to twelve month backlog of work, so clearly the process is economically viable. After creation, these individual high resolution urban models are inserted into a large area terrain database which is currently planned to extend from San Diego to Las Vegas and Santa Barbara.

Click for full image… Figure: 2 Hollywood Boulevard

For example, the Team is currently under contract from the City of Los Angeles to create virtual models of the Hollywood Boulevard and MacArthur Park areas (see Figure 2), each about 35 blocks in size. These models are built as part of the Virtual L.A. project so that they fit accurately into the existing City database.

The UST Urban Simulator (uSim) was designed to respond to the unique requirements of the Urban Planning, Urban Design, Civil Engineering and Architecture professions. The Team focused on creating a user interface for viewing and interacting with a 3D environment in a way that would be both intuitive and easy to use. The interface and simulation software runs on the entire line of Silicon Graphics equipment, O2, Octane and Onyx/2 workstations, allowing extensive use of real-time texture mapping. The Silicon Graphics IRIS Performer application programming interface (API) was used in developing the simulation software. The UST interface to the simulation uses the Motif/X-Windows standard, and includes a well-defined set of functions that most users find sufficient for loading and viewing models without additional programming effort. Nonetheless, the interface design allows the simulation to be easily customized to support a particular application.

Click for full image…

The Team drew on technology already familiar to the world of visual simulation and virtual reality to create a system specifically designed for efficiently modeling and simulating urban environments, both existing and proposed. It combines relatively simple 3D models with aerial photographs and street level video, to create a realistic urban neighborhood. Such details as plants, street signs and graffiti add to the effect. The virtual neighborhood can be used for interactive fly and walk-through demonstrations, enabling the closest possible inspection of, for example, a proposed housing development.