System and method for creating, storing, and utilizing composite images of a geographic location
US6895126B2 · kind B2 · utility
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 11, 2001 |
| Grant date | May 17, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 2, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N5/77
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system and method synthesizing images of a locale to generate a composite image that provide a panoramic view of the locale. A video camera moves along a street recording images of objects along the street. A GPS receiver and inertial navigation system provide the position of the camera as the images are being recorded. The images are indexed with the position data provided by the GPS receiver and inertial navigation system. The composite image is created on a column-by-column basis by determining which of the acquired images contains the desired pixel column, extracting the pixels associated with the column, and stacking the columns side by side. The composite images are stored in an image database and associated with a street name and number range of the street being depicted in the image. The image database covers a substantial amount of a geographic area allowing a user to visually navigate the area from a user terminal.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.