Systems and methods for generating spherical images
US8902322B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 9, 2012 |
| Grant date | Dec 2, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 25, 2033 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N23/698
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An imaging system comprises four image sensors each pointing outwardly from the vertices of a notional tetrahedron with the optical axes of the image sensors substantially collinear with respective medians of the notional tetrahedron, with the focal plane array of each image sensor positioned between the lens system of its respective image sensor and the centroid of the notional tetrahedron. The imaging system and can be used to obtain image data for generating a spherical image of the space surrounding the imaging system. A method for generating a spherical image from this image data assigns spherical coordinates to the pixels in the images according to a cylindrical projection that is individually aligned with the image plane of each image, and blends overlapping pixels and fills blank pixel spaces. The method can be applied to image data representing outward views from the vertices or centroids of faces of any Platonic solid.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.