Adaptable 3d range geometry compression techniques with an assistive mobile application toward improving navigational independence via real-time 3d spatial audio soundscapes

Advances in technology have enabled improvements to three dimensional (3D) range geometry capture and compression. These improvements have made using 3D data more practical for applications such as telepresence, medicine, metrology, and the visual arts, to name a few. However, there are still opportunities for more improvements. This dissertation describes two new methods for compressing 3D range geometry information. The first approach uses interpolation to store 3D scans in smaller files while only minimally reducing reconstruction accuracy. The second approach allows users to focus accuracy within customizable regions of interest in a scan while reducing overall file size. This dissertation also presents a new mobile app that uses 3D capture technology to create “soundscapes” that help people with visual impairments (PVI) navigate. The goal of these methods is to make 3D information more accessible and to increase the effectiveness of the people and applications that make use of it. The compression methods do this by allowing users more flexibility than previous methods in how their 3D information is processed, while the mobile app permits 3D scans captured using modern mobile devices to help PVI navigate safely, effectively, and independently.