Method and apparatus for simultaneous capture of a spherical image
First Claim
1. A method for capturing a spherical image comprising the steps of capturing a first approximately hemispherical image via a first camera including a first hemispherical lens;
- capturing a second approximately hemispherical image via a second camera including a second oppositely directed hemispherical lens, wherein the first and second approximately hemispherical images overlap with each other such that each of the first and second approximately hemispherical images has an overlapping portion with the other of the first and second approximately hemispherical images; and
combining said first and second oppositely directed hemispherical images to create a seamless spherical image by averaging the overlapping portions of both the first and second approximately hemispherical images.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for capture of a spherical image is disclosed. The present invention includes at least one camera having a lens with at least a 180° field-of-view for capturing a hemispherical image. In a first embodiment, a second hemispherical image is created corresponding to a mirror image of the hemispherical image captured by the camera. In a second embodiment, two back-to-back cameras capture first and second hemispherical images, respectively. In both embodiments, a converter combines the two images along their outside edges to form a single, spherical image. Finally, the converter stores the complete spherical image for later retrieval and perspective corrected viewing.
373 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for capturing a spherical image comprising the steps of capturing a first approximately hemispherical image via a first camera including a first hemispherical lens;
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capturing a second approximately hemispherical image via a second camera including a second oppositely directed hemispherical lens, wherein the first and second approximately hemispherical images overlap with each other such that each of the first and second approximately hemispherical images has an overlapping portion with the other of the first and second approximately hemispherical images; and combining said first and second oppositely directed hemispherical images to create a seamless spherical image by averaging the overlapping portions of both the first and second approximately hemispherical images. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4)
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2. An apparatus for capturing a spherical image comprising:
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a first camera equipped with a first 180°
or greater field-of-view lens, said first camera and said first lens directed in a first direction, said first camera capturing a first image;a second camera with a second 180°
or greater field-of-view lens, said second camera and said second lens directed in a second direction opposite said first direction, said first and second cameras arranged in a back-to-back position, said second camera capturing a second image, wherein the first and second images overlap with each other such that each of the first and second images has an overlapping portion with the other of the first and second images; anda combining system for combining said first and second images into a seamless formed image by averaging the overlapping portions of both the first and second images. - View Dependent Claims (5)
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6. A method for creating a seamless spherical image, the seamless spherical image comprising at least a first image in a first direction and a second image in a second direction different from the first direction, the method comprising the steps of:
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combining at least the first and second images to create the seamless spherical image, the first and second images overlapping with each other such that each of the first and second images has an overlapping portion with the other of the first and second images, the step of combining including averaging the overlapping portions of the first and second images; and storing the entire seamless spherical image as a single image. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An apparatus for creating a seamless spherical image, the seamless spherical image comprising at least a first image in a first direction and a second image in a second direction different from the first direction, the apparatus comprising:
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a processor for combining at least the first and second images to create the seamless spherical image, the first and second images overlapping with each other such that each of the first and second images has an overlapping portion with the other of the first and second images, the processor being configured to combine the first and second images by averaging the overlapping portions of the first and second images; and a storage device for storing the entire seamless spherical image as a single image. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification