Large-Scale 3D Reconstruction from Multi-View Imagery: A Comprehensive Review

Three-dimensional reconstruction is a key technology employed to represent virtual reality in the real world, which is valuable in computer vision. Large-scale 3D models have broad application prospects in the fields of smart cities, navigation, virtual tourism, disaster warning, and search-and-rescue missions. Unfortunately, most image-based studies currently prioritize the speed and accuracy of 3D reconstruction in indoor scenes. While there are some studies that address large-scale scenes, there has been a lack of systematic comprehensive efforts to bring together the advancements made in the field of 3D reconstruction in large-scale scenes. Hence, this paper presents a comprehensive overview of a 3D reconstruction technique that utilizes multi-view imagery from large-scale scenes. In this article, a comprehensive summary and analysis of vision-based 3D reconstruction technology for large-scale scenes are presented. The 3D reconstruction algorithms are extensively categorized into traditional and learning-based methods. Furthermore, these methods can be categorized based on whether the sensor actively illuminates objects with light sources, resulting in two categories: active and passive methods. Two active methods, namely, structured light and laser scanning, are briefly introduced. The focus then shifts to structure from motion (SfM), stereo matching, and multi-view stereo (MVS), encompassing both traditional and learning-based approaches. Additionally, a novel approach of neural-radiance-field-based 3D reconstruction is introduced. The workflow and improvements in large-scale scenes are elaborated upon. Subsequently, some well-known datasets and evaluation metrics for various 3D reconstruction tasks are introduced. Lastly, a summary of the challenges encountered in the application of 3D reconstruction technology in large-scale outdoor scenes is provided, along with predictions for future trends in development.