Questions for window/door detection

[sejin09]

Hello,

I'm trying to get street-view building images using BRAILS and detect windows and doors from collected building images using FacadeParser.

Q1. It seems BRAILS finds building locations from the database of OpenStreetMap. If my buildings are not registered in the database of OpenStreetMap, is it impossible to get street-view images automatically using Google API?

Q2. As you can see in the attached image file, the accuracy of detecting windows and doors is great. However, there are still errors, for example, wrong identification of a door (the small door next to the actual door). Also, the detected center biggest window seem much smaller than its actual size. Is this common level of errors we can encounter while using FacadeParser? And, is there any other module or method to detect windows and doors?

Q3. There are three buildings in the attached image whereas I only need the segmented result of the center building. Do you have any idea to define the boundary of the center building and discard the images of other two buildings?

[bacetiner]

Hi Sejin,

Thank you for your questions and your detailed post.

A1: Great question. You can download Sreet View images in many unique ways by creating a custom pipeline using FootprintHandler and ImHandler. Do you have a specific method in mind, such as using a list of addresses, etc.?

A2: I think segmentation results should always be post-processed before attribute extraction. For example, if the algorithm detects multiple doors, you can eliminate the smaller detection assuming there will always be one front door to a single-family building. As for windows, polygonization using edge detection could be another method. These ideas will eventually get implemented into BRAILS, but for now, what is in FacadeParser is what BRAILS currently offers.

A3: We have a prototype idea currently implemented in BRAILS based on limiting the field of view to just the building of interest. However, this feature is still undergoing testing and may not be released for another month or two.

I hope this helps!