Virtual City Environments (VCEs) and Mirror Worlds can be a useful resource for communities such as the local government, researchers and the general public to collaborate on tasks like town planning, threat assessment, commerce and research. There are open standards like Extensible 3D (X3D, which represents 3D graphics) and CityGML (a Geography Markup Language to manage 3D building data). These standards are royalty-free and used to create, manage, share and portray such environments. However, there are critical challenges to delivering such complex and detailed Mirror Worlds in real-time. In this work, we focus on runtime data structures and performance for Level-of-Detail (LOD) management and real-time portrayal. We begin with a VCE defined in existing semantic models such as the CityGML specification. We implement and evaluate a novel X3D-based Level-of-Detail technique called ProxyPrismLOD, which leverages the CityGML standard of a 4-step LOD hierarchy. For switching between different models of the same object at near ranges, our LOD technique uses a custom shape we call a ProxyPrism to optimally encapsulate irregularly and asymmetrically shaped building models. First, we ran a user study to understand the visual dynamics of range-based LOD switching. Specifically, we evaluated several scaling factors for an exponential range cutoff function. The function is based on the model's size as well as the environment density. In this experiment, participants rated "visual granularity" and "distraction" levels of the LOD technique over two Software Field-of-View (sFOV) conditions. A scaling factor of Beta = 3 was determined. Second, we ran a series of simulations to study the performance benefits of ProxyPrismLOD technique over the basic range-based LOD. We observed performance benefits up to 7.46% in terms of overall Frames-per-Seconds (FPS) on the models we tested. / Master of Science

Traditionally, city maps are drafted in two dimensions, on paper and using GIS technology, and specify the placement and boundaries of different zoning districts. Two dimensional maps place limitations on the designer, including, but not limited to, the inability to foresee areas which might be shaded by neighboring buildings. This thesis presents a prototype for a visualization tool to create city maps in three dimensions. Three dimensional city planning can be beneficial because it allows the designer to envision a proposed skyline and balance the positive space of the building mass and the negative space surrounding and in between buildings. This visualization tool allows the city planner to layout a city map using four different zoning districts. Once drafted, the city map is populated with three-dimensional building models representing buildings commonly found in each local zoning district. The purpose of this virtual environment is to help visualize a hypothetical city created under conditions of the proposed city map.

Les modélisations 3D de ville se multiplient à travers le monde et deviennent aujourd’hui accessibles grâce à la volonté des communes de les proposer librement. Il est ainsi aujourd’hui possible d’accéder à plusieurs milliers de kilomètres carrés de territoires urbains modélisés en 3D. Nous présentons dans cette thèse un ensemble de méthodes permettant d’enrichir un modèle virtuel 3D de ville, de l’organiser afin de faciliter son utilisation, puis de l’analyser en détectant les changements entre deux millésimes ou en mesurant son ambiance visuelle selon les besoins de l’utilisateur. Nous proposons dans un premier temps un algorithme permettant de compléter un modèle 3D en y adjoignant une définition sémantique grâce au cadastre, ainsi qu’une méthode de calcul de la canopée végétale 3D par croisement de données. Puis nous proposons des stratégies d’organisation du modèle 3D de la ville selon des critères géométriques et sémantiques afin de faciliter son parcours. Nous présentons ensuite des méthodes comparant deux millésimes de données représentant un même territoire dans le but de produire un unique modèle temporel contenant un ensemble de versions. Enfin, nous cherchons à mesurer l’ambiance visuelle de la ville via l’analyse de la composition d’un champ de vision ainsi que de l’ensoleillement et des ombres portées présentes sur un territoire. Ces mesures peuvent être liées à des données externes afin de proposer de multiples interprétations en fonction des besoins de l’utilisateur.Tous ces travaux se font dans un contexte d’interopérabilité et de généricité puisqu’ils ont pour objectif de pouvoir être utilisés avec des jeux de données provenant du monde entier. Nous basons donc nos méthodes sur l’utilisation de standards internationaux aussi bien pour les données en entrée que pour les résultats en sortie. Il est ainsi possible, dans le cadre d’une approche voulue dans un contexte de pluralité scientifique au sein du LabEx IMU, de mettre à disposition de la communauté les résultats mais aussi nos algorithmes proposés au sein d’un logiciel développé en open source. / 3D virtual models of cities are multiplying throughout the world and now become accessible thanks to the will of the communes to propose them freely. Today, it is possible to access several thousand square kilometres of urban territories modelled in 3D.We present in this thesis a set of methods to enrich a 3D virtual city model, organize it to facilitate its use and then analyse it by detecting changes between two vintages or by measuring its visual atmosphere according to the user’s needs. We first propose an algorithm to complete a 3D model by adding a semantic definition thanks to the cadastre, and a method to compute the 3D plant canopy by crossing data. Then we propose strategies to organize the 3D model of the city according to geometric and semantic criteria in order to facilitate its browsing. We then present methods comparing two vintages of data representing the same territory in order to produce a single temporal model containing a set of versions. Finally, we try to measure the visual atmosphere of the city by analysing the composition of a field of vision as well as the amount of sunshine and the shadows on a territory. These measurements can be linked to external data in order to propose multiple interpretations according to the user’s needs.All this work is done in a context of interoperability and genericity since it aims to be used with datasets from all over the world. We therefore base our methods on the use of international standards for both input and output data. It is thus possible, in a context of scientific plurality within the LabEx IMU, to make available to the community the results but also our algorithms proposed within an open source developed software.