Generating panoramic video for video management systems

• US 10,574,886 B2
• Filed: 09/26/2018
• Issued: 02/25/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thermal Imaging Radar LLC
• Original Assignee: Thermal Imaging Radar LLC
• Inventors: Jones, Lawrence Richard, Rees, Dana, Kay, David T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Flynn, Nathan J
• Assistant Examiner(s): Trinh, Tung T
• Application Number:
  US16/143,153
• Publication Number:
  US 20190132512A1
• Time in Patent Office: 517 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/40 in video content extracting overlay text G06V20/62; video retrieval G06F16/70; processing of video elementary streams in video servers H04N21/234; processing of video elementary streams in video clients H04N21/44
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/44 Event detection
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/695 Control of camera direction for changing a field of view, e.g. pan, tilt or based on tracking of objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/698 for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/90 Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/33 Transforming infrared radiation cameras or camera modules for generating image signals from infrared radiation H04N23/20; circuitry of SSIS for transforming infrared radiation into image signals H04N25/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

Generating panoramic video viewable at a third-party video management system includes receiving image data captured by at least one camera. The received image data may be captured at a plurality of angles (e.g., stop positions) arranged about a single axis (e.g., about which the camera rotates). The received image data may optionally be analyzed. Based on the received image data (and any optional analysis thereof), panoramic video derived from the captured image data (e.g., still images) may then be generated. A single video stream including the generated panoramic video may then be generated. The single generated video stream may then be sent to a third-party video management system (VMS). The video stream may be usable by the video management system for displaying the generated panoramic video. Various other views or other information may also be included in the single video stream sent to the VMS.

Claims

1. A computer system comprising:

one or more processor(s); and

one or more computer-readable hardware storage device(s) having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that are executable by the one or more processor(s) to cause the computer system to generate a panoramic video viewable at a third-party video management system by causing the computer system to perform at least the following;

receive image data captured by at least one camera, the received image data being captured at a plurality of angles or stop positions associated with a single axis;

based on the received image data, generate the panoramic video;

generate a single video stream including the generated panoramic video, wherein;

the generated panoramic video is split within the single video stream into at least a first portion and a second portion, the first portion and the second portion being configured for display as separate horizontal panoramas,

the horizontal panorama of the first portion comprises images that each correlate to a separate one of the plurality of angles or stop positions, and

a number of the images in the horizontal panorama of the first portion is half of a number of angles or stop positions included in the plurality of angles or stop positions; and

send the single video stream to the third-party video management system, the single video stream being usable by the third-party video management system for displaying the generated panoramic video.

2. The computer system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the received image data is received from a plurality of different cameras.

3. The computer system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one camera comprises a single camera that is configured to rotate about the single axis and capture still images, rather than video, at a plurality of stop positions throughout the rotation of the camera.

4. The computer system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one camera comprises a thermal camera that is configured to capture thermal camera images.

5. The computer system in accordance with claim 1, wherein execution of the computer-executable instructions further causes the computer system to analyze the received image data, and wherein analyzing the received image data includes detecting when one or more event(s) have occurred at a site monitored by the at least one camera.

6. The computer system in accordance with claim 5, wherein analyzing the received image data further includes determining a particular location of the one or more event(s) within the site monitored by the at least one camera.

7. The computer system in accordance with claim 6, wherein the sent video stream includes data associated with the determined particular location of the one or more event(s).

8. A method, implemented at a computer system that includes one or more processor(s), for generating a panoramic video viewable at a third-party video management system, said method comprising:

receiving still image data captured by at least one camera, the received still image data being captured at a plurality of stop positions associated with a single axis about which the at least one camera rotates;

based on the received image data, generating the panoramic video;

generating a single video stream of the generated panoramic video, wherein;

the generated panoramic video is split within the single video stream into at least a first portion and a second portion, the first portion and the second portion being configured for display as separate horizontal panoramas,

the horizontal panorama of the first portion comprises images that each correlate to a separate one of the plurality of angles or stop positions, and

a number of the images in the horizontal panorama of the first portion is half of a number of angles or stop positions included in the plurality of angles or stop positions; and

sending the single video stream to the third-party video management system, the single video stream being usable by the third-party video management system for displaying the generated panoramic video.

9. The method in accordance with claim 8, wherein the received image data is received from a plurality of different cameras including both a thermal image camera that captures still images at a plurality of stop positions as it rotates through a plurality of such stop positions, about the single axis, and wherein the plurality of different cameras also includes a pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) visible light spectrum camera which captures video image data.

10. The method in accordance with claim 9, wherein the PTZ camera and the thermal camera are located at the center of a circular area monitored by the thermal camera, the single axis being at the center of the monitored circular area.

11. The method in accordance with claim 8, wherein the at least one camera comprises a single camera that is configured to rotate about the single axis and capture still images at a plurality of stop positions throughout the rotation.

12. The method in accordance with claim 8, wherein the method further includes analyzing the received image data, wherein analyzing the received image data includes detecting when one or more event(s) have occurred at a site monitored by the at least one camera.

13. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein analyzing the received video data further includes determining a particular location of the one or more event(s) within the site of the at least one camera.

14. The method in accordance with claim 13, wherein the sent video stream includes data associated with the determined particular location of the one or more event(s).

15. One or more hardware storage device(s) having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that are executable by one or more processor(s) of a computer system to cause the computer system to generate a panoramic video viewable at a third-party video management system from still images, rather than video images, by causing the computer system to perform at least the following:

receive still image data captured by at least one camera, the received still image data being captured at a plurality of angles or stop positions associated with a single axis about which the at least one camera rotates;

based on the received still image data, generate the panoramic video;

generate a single video stream comprising the generated panoramic video, wherein;

the generated panoramic video is split within the single video stream into at least a first portion and a second portion, the first portion and the second portion being configured for display as separate horizontal panoramas,

the horizontal panorama of the first portion comprises images that each correlate to a separate one of the plurality of angles or stop positions, and

a number of the images in the horizontal panorama of the first portion is half of a number of angles or stop positions included in the plurality of angles or stop positions

send the single video stream to the third-party video management system, the single video stream being usable by the video management system for displaying the generated panoramic video.

16. The one or more hardware storage device(s) of claim 15, wherein the received image data is received from a plurality of different cameras, or from a thermal imaging camera that is configured to capture thermal camera images as it rotates through the plurality of stop positions.

17. The one or more hardware storage device(s) of claim 15, wherein execution of the computer-executable instructions further causes the computer system to analyze the received still image data, wherein analyzing the received still image data includes detecting when one or more event(s) have occurred at a site monitored by the at least one camera, and determining a particular location of the one or more event(s) within the site monitored by the at least one camera.

18. The one or more hardware storage device(s) of claim 17, wherein the sent video stream includes data associated with the determined particular location of the one or more event(s).

19. The one or more hardware storage device(s) of claim 15, wherein the sent video stream is derived in part from a thermal imaging camera at a center of a circular monitored area, wherein the sent single video stream also includes an embedded video from a pant-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera that is also located at a center of the circular monitored area.

20. The one or more hardware storage device(s) of claim 15, wherein the sent video stream is derived in part from a thermal imaging camera at a center of a circular monitored area, and wherein:

(i) the sent video stream also includes a bird'"'"'s eye view that provides a bird'"'"'s eye map view of the circular monitored area;

or

(ii) the sent video stream splits a 360°

panorama monitored by the rotating thermal imaging camera into two 180°

portions of the panorama, the first portion being a first one of the 180°

portions and the second portion being a second one of the 180°

portions, each of the two 180°

panorama portions being displayed as separate horizontal panoramas, one above the other;

or

(iii) both (i) and (ii).