Image processing apparatus and image processing method
First Claim
1. An image processing apparatus which is connected to print unit adapted to print an image, and can output an image to be printed to the print unit, comprising:
- image sensing unit adapted to capture an image of a real space;
generation unit adapted to generate an image of a virtual space in accordance with a position and orientation of said image sensing unit, which serves as a viewpoint of the virtual space, on a coordinate system shared by the real space and the virtual space;
storage unit adapted to superpose and storing the image of the real space captured by said image sensing unit and the image of the virtual space generated by said generation unit to store a mixed reality space image formed by superposing the two images;
instruction unit adapted to instruct whether or not the mixed reality space image stored in said storage unit is to be printed; and
output unit adapted to output the mixed reality space image stored in said storage unit to the print unit upon reception of a print instruction of the mixed reality image from said instruction unit.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A graphic card (130) renders a virtual space image on a memory (122) according to the position and orientation of a video camera (140) using data indicating the state of a virtual space, 3DCG data loaded from an HDD (123) onto the memory (122), and data indicating the position and orientation of the video camera (140). A real space image captured by the video camera (140) is then acquired. The graphic card (130) superimposes the acquired real space image on the virtual space image rendered on the memory (122) to generate a mixed reality space image on the memory (122), and then outputs the mixed reality space image to a monitor (150). Upon depression of a shutter (160), the mixed reality space image rendered on the memory (122) at that time is output to a printer (170), which prints the mixed reality space image on a print medium such as a paper sheet, OHP film, or the like.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. An image processing apparatus which is connected to print unit adapted to print an image, and can output an image to be printed to the print unit, comprising:
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image sensing unit adapted to capture an image of a real space;
generation unit adapted to generate an image of a virtual space in accordance with a position and orientation of said image sensing unit, which serves as a viewpoint of the virtual space, on a coordinate system shared by the real space and the virtual space;
storage unit adapted to superpose and storing the image of the real space captured by said image sensing unit and the image of the virtual space generated by said generation unit to store a mixed reality space image formed by superposing the two images;
instruction unit adapted to instruct whether or not the mixed reality space image stored in said storage unit is to be printed; and
output unit adapted to output the mixed reality space image stored in said storage unit to the print unit upon reception of a print instruction of the mixed reality image from said instruction unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 16)
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8. An image processing apparatus, which is connected to a plurality of apparatuses each of which generates a mixed reality space image formed by superimposing images of a virtual space and real space, is connected to print unit adapted to print an image, and can output an image to be printed to the print unit, comprising:
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selection unit adapted to select a desired one of the plurality of apparatuses;
instruction unit adapted to instruct whether or not the mixed reality space image obtained from the apparatus selected by said selection unit is to be printed; and
output unit adapted to output the mixed reality space image to the print unit upon reception of a print instruction of the mixed reality image from said instruction unit. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. An image processing method to be executed by an image processing apparatus which is connected to print unit adapted to print an image, and can output an image to be printed to the print unit, comprising:
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an image sensing step of capturing an image of a real space using image sensing unit;
a generation step of generating an image of a virtual space in accordance with a position and orientation of the image sensing unit, which serves as, a viewpoint of the virtual space, on a coordinate system shared by the real space and the virtual space;
a storage step of superposing and storing the image of the real space captured in the image sensing step and the image of the virtual space generated in the generation step to store a mixed reality space image formed by superposing the two images in a memory;
an instruction step of instructing whether or not the mixed reality space image stored in the memory is to be printed; and
an output step of outputting the mixed reality space image stored in the memory to the print unit upon reception of a print instruction of the mixed reality image from the instruction step. - View Dependent Claims (15, 17)
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13. An image processing method to be executed by an image processing apparatus, which is connected to a plurality of apparatuses each of which generates a mixed reality space image formed by superimposing images of a virtual space and real space, is connected to print unit for printing an image, and can output an image to be printed to the print unit, comprising:
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a selection step of selecting a desired one of the plurality of apparatuses;
an instruction step of instructing whether or not the mixed reality space image obtained from the apparatus selected in the selection step is to be printed; and
an output step of outputting the mixed reality space image to the print unit upon reception of a print instruction of the mixed reality image from the instruction step.
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18. An image processing apparatus which is connected to print unit adapted to print an image, and can output an image to be printed to the print unit, comprising:
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image sensing unit adapted to capture a real space image;
generation unit adapted to generate a virtual space image according to a viewpoint position and orientation on a coordinate system shared by real and virtual spaces to have said image sensing unit as a viewpoint on the virtual space;
composition unit adapted to superimpose the real space image captured by said image sensing unit and the virtual space image generated by said generation unit;
display unit adapted to display a mixed reality space image obtained by said composition unit; and
instruction unit adapted to give, to the print unit, an output instruction of the mixed reality space image composited by said composition unit, and in that said generation unit has a plurality of calculation methods and sequences for generating the virtual space image, and when the instruction is received from said instruction unit, said generation unit re-generates a virtual space image using a second calculation method and sequence, which are different from a first calculation method and sequence used to generate the virtual space image, said composition unit re-composites a mixed reality space image from the re-generated virtual space image and the real space image, and the print unit prints the re-composited mixed reality space image on a medium. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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19. An image processing apparatus which is connected to print unit adapted to print an image, and can output an image to be printed to the print unit, comprising:
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image sensing unit adapted to capture a real space image;
generation unit adapted to generate a virtual space image according to a viewpoint position and orientation on a coordinate system shared by real and virtual spaces to have said image sensing unit as a viewpoint on the virtual space;
composition unit adapted to superimpose the real space image captured by said image sensing unit and the virtual space image generated by said generation unit;
display unit adapted to display a mixed reality space image obtained by said composition unit; and
instruction unit adapted to give, to the print unit, an output instruction of the mixed reality space image composited by said composition unit, and in that said generation unit has a plurality of data sets for generating the virtual space image, and when the instruction is received from said instruction unit, said generation unit re-generates a virtual space image using a second data set, which is different from a first data set used to generate the virtual space image, said composition unit re-composites a mixed reality space image from the re-generated virtual space image and the real space image, and the print unit prints the re-composited mixed reality space image on a medium.
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27. An image processing apparatus which is connected to print unit adapted to print an image, and can output an image to be printed to the print unit, comprising:
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image sensing unit adapted to capture a real space image;
generation unit adapted to generate a virtual space image according to a viewpoint position and orientation on a coordinate system shared by real and virtual spaces to have said image sensing unit as a viewpoint on the virtual space;
composition unit adapted to superimpose the real space image captured by said image sensing unit and the virtual space image generated by said generation unit;
display unit adapted to display a mixed reality space image obtained by said composition unit;
instruction unit adapted to give, to the print unit, an output instruction of the mixed reality space image composited by said composition unit; and
determination unit adapted to check a positional relationship among said image sensing unit, a real space object, and a virtual space object on the coordinate system, and determining whether or not the real space object is occluded by the virtual space object in the mixed reality space image, and in that said generation unit re-generates a virtual space image using a second calculation method and sequence, which are different from a first calculation method and sequence used to generate the virtual space image, in accordance with a result of said determination unit, said composition unit re-composites a mixed reality space image from the re-generated virtual space image and the real space image, and the print unit prints the re-composited mixed reality space image on a medium. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification