Rotating scan camera

• US 20060072020A1
• Filed: 09/29/2004
• Published: 04/06/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Immersive Licensing, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Immersive Media Company
• Inventors: McCutchen, David Johnstone
• Granted Patent: US 7,791,638 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/218.100
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 17/02 Bodies
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 19/18 Motion-picture cameras with non-intermittently running film G03B41/02
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 35/08 by simultaneous recording
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 37/02 with scanning movement of lens or cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/189 Recording image signals; Reproducing recorded image signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/243 using three or more 2D image sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/50 Constructional details
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/60 Control of cameras or camera modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/698 for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/73 by influencing the exposure time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/772 the recording apparatus and the television camera being placed in the same enclosure

Abstract

A scanning camera with a rotating drum has one or more sensors characterized by a non-radial optical axis. With two sensors on opposite sides of the drum and facing in substantially the same direction, stereoscopic recording of a panorama is accomplished as the drum rotates. The adjustment of convergence between stereoscopic viewpoints is described that improves the viewing and interpretation of stereoscopic images. Rapid rotation of the scanning camera produces panoramic motion picture recording, with the final frame speed dependent on the sensitivity and speed of the sensor, the resolution desired, and the capabilities of the recording device. The preferred embodiment employs rotating fisheye lenses for a substantially full-sphere field of view. Additional sensors in the same arrangement are used to increase resolution and light sensitivity through multiplexed or additive recording of the image data. Recording image information using film, either internal or external to the camera drum, is also described as a cost-effective alternative to digital media storage.

Claims

1. A camera for recording a panoramic field of view in a scanning fashion, comprising:

i a rotatable drum having an axis of rotation and a perimeter; and

ii an even number of subcameras disposed at the perimeter of the drum, each subcamera comprising;

a lens having an optical axis substantially tangential to the perimeter of the drum and an image plane, said optical axis being not radial to said axis of rotation;

a linear sensor having a sensor area which intersects said optical axis and which lies within the image plane; and

transmission means for transferring scan line readings from the linear sensor;

iii storage means for storing the scan line readings from the sensors;

iv processing means for adjusting the positioning of the scan line readings in a final composite image.

v recording means for recording the final composite image.

2. The camera of claim 1, wherein the subcameras are disposed substantially on opposite sides of said drum, and provide in the course of the regularly repeated rotation of the drum, a repeated viewing of objects in the surrounding environment from two points of view with parallax separation.

3. The camera of claim 1, wherein each lens has a vertical field of view of at least 160 degrees.

4. The camera of claim 1, wherein the rotation of the rotatable drum is 360 degrees, and repeated in regular periods.

5. The camera of claim 1, wherein the electrical readings of the linear sensor, representing pictorial information, are grouped to form images representing a portion of a rotation.

6. The camera of claim 1, wherein image compression is applied to the pictorial information.

7. The camera of claim 1, wherein processing means are used to extract a movable region of interest from the pictorial information.

8. The camera of claim 1, wherein the images represent images with stereoscopic separation.

9. The camera of claim 8, wherein both stereoscopic images are viewed together as a stereo pair.

10. The camera of claim 8, wherein the convergence of the stereoscopic images is controlled by lateral distortion of one of the images relative to the other.

11. The camera of claim 10, wherein a rangefinding sensor on the drum is used to determine the amount of lateral distortion applied.

12. The camera of claim 1, wherein said recording means include a film recorder, and said line scan readings are first converted into light before being recorded on a strip of photographic film.

13. A method for recording a stereoscopic image of a wide field of view, up to a complete sphere, including the steps of:

i. aligning at least two line scan devices within the field of view such that their optical axes are in the same plane, separated, approximately parallel, and pointed in the same direction;

ii. rotating said line scan devices simultaneously about an axis of rotation, the axis of rotation being approximately perpendicular to said plane and disposed equidistant to and between said line scan devices;

iii. sampling the output of said line scan devices during said rotation, to produce scans from each sensor; and

iv. processing said scans so as to assemble a composite image having stereoscopic separation thoughout the image.

14. The method of claim 13, with the additional steps of placing duplicates of said line scan devices in rotated positions around said optical axis, and adjusting the timing of the recording of the additional scans produced by said duplicates so that they appear interleaved with the scans produced by the original line scan sensors.

15. The method of claim 13, with the additional step of adjusting the convergence of the stereoscopic image by digital delays of the scans according to a convergence profile.

16. The method of claim 15, with the convergence profile being determined by the input of a rangefinding device also mounted and rotated along with the sensors.