Street view imagery: AI-based analysis method and application

Abstract

Street view imagery is an emerging form of geographic big data. It presents urban visual environments from the perspective of urban residents and also contains non-visual environment of cities, such as urban human activities and socio-economic development. However, traditional digital image processing has its limitations, and the continuous development of artificial intelligence, especially computer vision and deep learning, provides strong technical support for exploring the rich semantic information in street view imagery. This paper reviews the related research on street view imagery and its artificial intelligence analysis methods and applications. It outlines the acquisition, storage, and common data sources of street view imagery. Then it introduces computer vision, deep learning, and commonly used open-source datasets in street view imagery analysis. It also detailed three aspects of AI-based street view imagery applications, namely quantification of the physical space, urban perception, and spatial semantic speculation. Finally, issues like data acquisition, domain adaption and deep learning black box are discussed. The hotspots and prospects for the development of this research topic are also prospected.