Augmented AVI video file for road surveying

Abstract

This paper presents a novel video augmentation approach: a video recording of a real entity augmented by structured data. This augmented video is a self-contained entity integrating values of perceptible and non-perceptible attributes of the same real entity. It simplifies data search, storage and management. Streaming, sharing, collaboration and synchronization are also simplified by the fact that the structured data (so-called augmented data) are integrated in the video file and therefore only one file needs to be manipulated. Our approach was applied to address the issues which road engineers experience while using the ROad Measurement and Data Acquisition System (ROMDAS). The ROMDAS system collects and analyses the road-condition state through video recordings and the data corresponding acquired by specific measuring devices. Currently, however, road engineers have to search the videos manually in order to find details of interest provided by the analysis of the data measured due to the separation of the video from the data. The ROMDAS system manages a large collection of road-condition data. It does not offer history management of video recordings of the same road captured at different time. We present this hybrid video augmentation system: the Augmented Video stream Framework (AVF). It allows creation, search, history management and playback of such augmented video files for effective road surveying based on the discrete data recorded in parallel to the video recordings. The AVF provides road engineers with effective and more comfortable perceptible and non-perceptible data search, storage and history management to be used for (collaborative) road inspection and maintenance. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.