CAT’S EYE — AN INTELLIGENT INVESTIGATION TOOL FOR URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN

Under the backdrop of refinement of urban governance and the increasingly broad application of information technology, an urgent demand for intelligent investigation has emerged among urban planning and design professions. Cat’s Eye, an intelligent investigation tool developed by UrbanXYZ, operates with position information of survey photos and computational vision technology, realizing spatial mapping and photo management in investigations of medium- and small-scale planning and design projects. The Cat’s Eye applet is designed to collect information of spatial setting, facility / amenity conditions, and human behaviors and activities; and its PC terminal is developed for higher investigation needs such as result visualization, video analysis, and data management. This article introduces the product architecture, technical innovation, interface and operation, and investigation methods of Cat's Eye. Furthermore, by combining authentic cases, the article illustrates how Cat’s Eye investigates the spatial setting, facility / amenity, and human behaviors in survey areas. Finally, the article prospects the future of intelligent investigation tools.