Picture composing apparatus and method
First Claim
1. A picture composing apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of image pickup means;
image pickup situation detecting means for detecting an image pickup situation of said image pickup means;
first projecting means for projecting a plurality of images taken by said image pickup means onto a projection section in accordance with the image pickup situation detected by said image pickup situation detecting means to generate a plurality of first projected images;
second projecting means for projecting said plurality of first projected images to a three-dimensional projection model to generate a second projected image;
virtual image pickup means for virtually picking up said second projected image;
three-dimensional projection model determining means for determining a position of said three-dimensional projection model and a shape thereof; and
pickup situation determining means for determining an image pickup situation of said virtual image pickup means, said second projected image being picked up by said virtual image pickup means in the image pickup situation determined by said pickup situation determining means to combine the plurality of images taken by said plurality of image pickup means.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A picture composing apparatus designed to combine a plurality of images taken by a plurality of image pickup devices. In the apparatus, a first projecting unit projects the plurality of images taken by the image pickup devices onto a projection section in accordance with an image pickup situation of the image pickup devices to generate a plurality of first projected images, and a second projecting unit projects the plurality of first projected images to a three-dimensional projection model to generate a second projected image. Also included in the apparatus are a virtual image pickup device for virtually picking up the second projected image and an image pickup situation determining unit for determining an image pickup situation of the virtual image pickup device, whereby the second projected image is picked up by the virtual image pickup device in the image pickup situation determined by the pickup situation determining unit to combine the plurality of images taken by the plurality of image pickup devices, thus producing a high-quality composite picture. This apparatus can offer a natural composite picture in which joints among the images taken by the image pickup devices do not stand out. In addition, when mounted on a motor vehicle, this apparatus allows a driver to easily seize the surrounding situations and the positional relationship of the motor vehicle with respect to other objects.
-
Citations
29 Claims
-
1. A picture composing apparatus comprising:
-
a plurality of image pickup means;
image pickup situation detecting means for detecting an image pickup situation of said image pickup means;
first projecting means for projecting a plurality of images taken by said image pickup means onto a projection section in accordance with the image pickup situation detected by said image pickup situation detecting means to generate a plurality of first projected images;
second projecting means for projecting said plurality of first projected images to a three-dimensional projection model to generate a second projected image;
virtual image pickup means for virtually picking up said second projected image;
three-dimensional projection model determining means for determining a position of said three-dimensional projection model and a shape thereof; and
pickup situation determining means for determining an image pickup situation of said virtual image pickup means, said second projected image being picked up by said virtual image pickup means in the image pickup situation determined by said pickup situation determining means to combine the plurality of images taken by said plurality of image pickup means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A picture composing apparatus comprising:
-
a plurality of image pickup means;
image pickup situation detecting means for detecting an image pickup situation of said image pickup means;
first projecting means for projecting a plurality of images taken by said image pickup means onto a projection surface in accordance with the image pickup situation detected by said image pickup situation detecting means to generate a plurality of first projected images;
second projecting means for projecting the plurality of first projected images to a spherical surface to generate a second projected image; and
converting means for spreading the second projected image on a plane round one point on said spherical surface. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
-
-
23. A picture composing method comprising:
-
an image pickup step of picking up a plurality of images;
an image pickup situation detecting step of detecting an image pickup situation in said image pickup step;
a first projecting step of projecting a plurality of images picked up to a projection section in accordance with the image pickup situation detected in said image pickup situation detecting step to generate a plurality of first projected images;
a second projecting step of projecting the plurality of first projected images to a three-dimensional projection model to generate a second projected image;
a virtual image pickup step of virtually picking up the second projected image;
a three-dimensional projection model determining step of determining a position of said three-dimensional projection model and a shape thereof; and
an image pickup situation determining step of determining the image pickup situation in said virtual image pickup step, the second projected image being picked up in said virtual image pickup step in the projection situation determined in said image pickup situation determining step to combine the plurality of images taken in said image pickup step.
-
-
26. A picture composing method comprising:
-
an image pickup step of picking up a plurality of images;
an image pickup situation detecting step of detecting an image pickup situation in said image pickup step;
a first projecting step of projecting a plurality of images, picked up in said image pickup step, to a projection section in accordance with the image pickup situation detected in the image pickup situation detecting step, to generate a plurality of first projected images;
a second projecting step of projecting the plurality of first projected images to a spherical surface to generate a second projected image;
a plane spreading step of spreading the second projected image on a plane round one point on said spherical surface; and
a spherical surface position determining step of determining a position of said spherical surface, a plurality of images obtained in said plane spreading step are combined to produce a composite picture.
-
-
27. A picture displaying apparatus comprising:
-
a plurality of image pickup means;
image pickup situation detecting means for detecting an image pickup situation of said image pickup means;
first projecting means for projecting a plurality of images taken by said image pickup means onto a projection section in accordance with the image pickup situation detected by said image pickup situation detecting means to generate a plurality of first projected images;
second projecting means for projecting the plurality of first projected images to a three-dimensional projection model to generate a second projected image;
virtual image pickup means for virtually picking up the second projected image;
three-dimensional projection model determining means for determining a position of said three-dimensional projection model and a shape thereof;
image pickup situation determining means for determining an image pickup situation of said virtual image pickup means;
display means for displaying a picture; and
display data conversion control means for converting a picture to be displayed into data adaptable to said display means, the second projected image being picked up by said virtual image pickup means in the image pickup situation determined by said image pickup situation determining means to combine the plurality of images taken by said plurality of image pickup means to produce a composite picture and said composite picture being converted by said display data conversion control means into data adaptable to said display means.
-
-
28. A picture acquiring/warning apparatus comprising:
-
a plurality of image pickup means;
image pickup situation detecting means for detecting an image pickup situation of said image pickup means;
first projecting means for projecting a plurality of images taken by said image pickup means onto a projection section in accordance with the image pickup situation detected by said image pickup situation detecting means to generate a plurality of first projected images;
second projecting means for projecting the plurality of first projected images to a three-dimensional projection model to generate a second projected image;
virtual image pickup means for virtually picking up the second projected image;
three-dimensional projection model determining means for determining a position of said three-dimensional projection model and a shape thereof;
image pickup situation determining means for determining an image pickup situation of said virtual image pickup means;
detecting means for detecting an approaching situation of an object; and
warning means for issuing arbitrary warning information when the object approaching situation detected by said detecting means reaches a predetermined object approaching situation.
-
-
29. A motor vehicle position recognition/decision apparatus comprising:
-
a plurality of image pickup means mounted on a motor vehicle;
image pickup situation detecting means for detecting an image pickup situation of said image pickup means;
first projecting means for projecting a plurality of images taken by said image pickup means onto a projection section in accordance with the image pickup situation detected by said image pickup situation detecting means to generate a plurality of first projected images;
second projecting means for projecting the plurality of first projected images to a three-dimensional projection model to generate a second projected image;
virtual image pickup means for virtually picking up the second projected image;
three-dimensional projection model determining means for determining a position of said three-dimensional projection model and a shape thereof;
image pickup situation determining means for determining an image pickup situation of said virtual image pickup means;
image detecting means for, when at least one of said plurality of image pickup means is backward image pickup means placed on a rear side of said motor vehicle, detecting an image of an arbitrary object from images taken by said backward image pickup means, images obtained by projecting the taken image to said three-dimensional projection mode or a picture obtained by combining the taken images in said virtual image pickup means;
recognizing means for recognizing a positional relationship between the image detected by said image detecting means and an image of said motor vehicle; and
decision means for making a decision on a positional difference between said motor vehicle and said object on the basis of the positional relationship recognized by said recognizing means.
-
Specification