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Introduction to Large-Scale Visual Geo-localization

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Large-Scale Visual Geo-Localization

Abstract

Despite recent advances in computer vision and large-scale indexing techniques, automatic geo-localization of images and videos remains a challenging task. The majority of existing computer vision solutions for geo-localization are limited to highly-visited urban regions for which a significant amount of geo-tagged imagery is available, and therefore, do not scale well to large and ordinary geo-spatial regions. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the major research themes in visual geo-localization, investigate the challenges, and point to problem areas that will benefit from common synthesis of perspectives from these research themes. In particular, we discuss how the availability of web-scale geo-referenced data affects visual geo-localization, what role semantic information plays in this problem, and how precise localization can be achieved using large-scale textured (RGB) and untextured (non-RGB) 3D models. We also introduce a few real-world applications which became feasible as a result of the capability of estimating an image’s geo-location. We conclude this chapter by providing an overview of the emerging trends in visual geo-localization and a summary of the rest of the chapters of the book.

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Correspondence to Amir R. Zamir .

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Zamir, A.R., Hakeem, A., Van Gool, L., Shah, M., Szeliski, R. (2016). Introduction to Large-Scale Visual Geo-localization. In: Zamir, A., Hakeem, A., Van Gool, L., Shah, M., Szeliski, R. (eds) Large-Scale Visual Geo-Localization. Advances in Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25781-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25781-5_1

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