Seaming polygonal projections from subhemispherical imagery
US6683608B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 3, 2001 |
| Grant date | Jan 27, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 3, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T15/20
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus for generating views of an environment with proper perspective and parallax. This invention captures panoramic views at many points in the environment, preferably by using fisheye lenses with subhemispherical fields of views to yield overlapping fisheye images that are seemed together, and stores them as planar polygons, which have been extended to include imagery occluded at their viewing position but visible at nearby points. Three-dimensional information on the environmental source of these polygons is determined and stored, enabling the playback system to simulate parallax as well as to produce stereographic images. Given a location and orientation in the environment, the playback system finds a nearby capture point and translates the polygons at that point to the specified location, producing an image. It then rotates that image to the desired orientation which it then displays.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.