Path Advisor: A Multi-Functional Campus Map Tool for Shortest Path

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Abstract

The shortest path in both the two dimensional (2D) plane and the three dimensional (3D) terrain is extensively used both in industry and academia. Although there are some map visualization tools for viewing the shortest path in 2D and 3D views, we find two limitations: (1) they are not applicable for map applications with obstacles (such as the wall in a building), and (2) they look unrealistic and strange when a road network approach is blindly adopted. Motivated by this, we developed a web-based multi-functional campus map tool called Path Advisor, which allows users to visualize the shortest path in the 2D view, the bird's eye view and the virtual reality view (VR view). Path Advisor uses Dijkstra’s shortest path algorithm and breadth-first tree in the 2D view, and the weighted shortest surface path algorithm in the bird's eye view and the VR view. We shot a video for demonstrating Path Advisor at https://youtu.be/ZgdjyXXHwqg.