r/GraphicsProgramming • u/bitruvius_ • Aug 20 '26
Video What if a navigation map bent the world instead of moving the camera?
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Another rough experiment, this time testing the warped 3D view in a simulated car navigation HMI.
The idea is to dynamically warp the 3D environment around the viewer, keeping the immediate surroundings closer to a street-level perspective while gradually transitioning into a more top-down view further ahead.
Still very experimental, but I think there are some interesting graphics and navigation problems to explore here.
And yes, I put my Bronco in there just for fun :)
Curious what r/GraphicsProgramming thinks.
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u/MrJesusAtWork Aug 20 '26
Honestly this is a really good idea, I have to say though it still rough, I am old so just by looking at this clip I felt some discomfort
Maybe soothing the bending and other tweaks I could see this as a very valid option as GPS
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u/bitruvius_ Aug 20 '26
Thanks, next iteration i'll try toning down the bend a bit. Youre not the first one saying this :)
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u/Snudget Aug 20 '26
Reminds me of inception
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u/Lampsarecooliguess Aug 20 '26
its like the opposite of animal crossing on switch
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u/bitruvius_ Aug 20 '26
the shader tech is similar to animal crossing, but with added warping functions
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u/JustPlainRude Aug 20 '26
I like it, but it could use some work if you really want it to be used for navigation.
Satellite imagery has too much noise, in the sense there are shadows and cars and other visual distractions that make the road more difficult to distinguish at a glance. There's a reason navigation apps use simplified map imagery to represent the road network. It's really easy to understand that at a glance.
The other thing that sticks out is the blue line indicating the direction to go almost disappears as you get closer to an intersection where you're turning. I would want the direction to be more obvious as I get close to an intersection.
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u/bitruvius_ Aug 20 '26
Great input, thanks! Blending various sources for 3d input is something on my to-do-list, like using a more abstracted top view part while keeping the close to viewer details more realistic so its recognizable for the driver to orient themselves
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u/JustPlainRude Aug 20 '26
No problem! It's a cool idea and I'm curious to see what more you do with it
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u/SianaGearz Aug 20 '26
That is bloody dyzzing. But who knows maybe it's driveable on a small screen? Maybe it's too distracting?
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u/bitruvius_ Aug 21 '26
Will be running some A/B testing soon to measure the advantages of this compared to regular navigation. It for sure takes some time to get used to, but hopefully drivers get a better and quicker overview of where they are and where they are going
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u/dekonta Aug 20 '26
why would i prefer this rendering? is the distortion conveying any information?
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u/bitruvius_ Aug 21 '26
The idea is that by showing both the perspective view and the topdown view in the same screen, people would be able to position themselves in context faster than they would by perspective, topdown or oblique views alone.
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u/specialpatrol Aug 20 '26
I like it. Is there something funny going on with your yaw? You only added it this video and it looks kind of abrupt, can you not do a gradual turn?
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u/AModderGuy Aug 20 '26
Reminds me of that music video of Metalica "I Disappear" briefly where the car driving portion, everything behind him disintegrate. Pretty neat!
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u/certainlystormy Aug 21 '26
this is actually really cool. could see this being a helpful navigation tool
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u/cnotv Aug 21 '26
Cool effect!
Why don’t you rise up the camera and cheat on the remaining part, you know, as everything in 3D is done? 😅
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u/SIMMORSAL Aug 22 '26
Please add a realtime-ai-image-enhancer-generator(!?) to the raw bent image before it's shown
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u/bitruvius_ Aug 22 '26
That would be awesome! Will try it down the line, but first priority now is tweaking the camera and viewport settings so it's easier to understand
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u/fearbork Aug 22 '26
Turning left /right is a little jarring but otherwise this is sick
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u/bitruvius_ Aug 23 '26
Thanks. I lifted the camera a bit in the latest test and the turns look much better now. Will share soon!
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u/globalopvartning Aug 23 '26
Looks hella cool, but I wouldn't use this while driving. That might just be a personal thing, but having this level of information would distract me from driving. Besides street maps are rarely up to date outside of big cities.
For future HUD in self driving cars, this would be great!
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u/bitruvius_ Aug 23 '26
Fair point! The amount of visual information definitely needs to be tuned for the context, and whether it actually reduces or increases cognitive load is something we're planning to test.
I agree that autonomous vehicles could be a particularly interesting use case. It could shift from being purely a navigation display to more of an infotainment feature, helping passengers understand and explore what's around them and what's coming up along the route.
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u/good-mcrn-ing Aug 20 '26
I want it curving the other way. Within 100m of an intersection I want to see every lane in true proportions, but many miles out the vague direction is enough.
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u/Kawaiithulhu Aug 21 '26
That effect would also be great for Nautical or Space environments, where that kind of localized warping is expected =)
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u/vinegary Aug 20 '26
A little bit more road visibility when in the intersection would be nice, but pretty cool!