Method for creating virtual reality
First Claim
1. A method of creating virtual reality, comprising:
- positioning at least three cameras surrounding a visual object to be virtualized;
synchronizing the operation of said at least three cameras;
generating a plurality of digitized images for each sequence of shots of said visual object by a corresponding one of said at least three cameras;
creating a plurality of discrete depth maps, wherein each depth map is extracted from an associated one of said plurality of digitized images;
generating a plurality of weighted depth maps by attaching reliability values to each of said plurality of discrete depth maps; and
preparing an object-centered model of said visual object including;
fusing said each of said plurality of digitized images and a weighted depth map associated therewith, thereby creating a tessellated surface for said visual object, andextracting a virtualized surface for said visual object by selectively projecting each voxel in an object-centered three-dimensional space onto said tessellated surface and finding one or more voxels with zero-crossings.
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Abstract
A method of virtualizing reality, i.e., a method of creating virtual reality from images of a real event, is comprised of the steps of capturing a plurality of images of each time instant of a real event using a plurality of cameras positioned at a plurality of angles. Each image is stored as intensity and/or color information. A suitable internal representation is computed from these images and the information regarding the camera angles. An image of each time instant may be generated from any viewing angle using the internal representation of it. The virtual viewpoints could be displayed on a single TV screen or using a stereoscopic display device for a true three-dimensional effect. The event thus virtualized can be navigated through, and interacted with, any virtual reality system.
354 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method of creating virtual reality, comprising:
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positioning at least three cameras surrounding a visual object to be virtualized; synchronizing the operation of said at least three cameras; generating a plurality of digitized images for each sequence of shots of said visual object by a corresponding one of said at least three cameras; creating a plurality of discrete depth maps, wherein each depth map is extracted from an associated one of said plurality of digitized images; generating a plurality of weighted depth maps by attaching reliability values to each of said plurality of discrete depth maps; and preparing an object-centered model of said visual object including; fusing said each of said plurality of digitized images and a weighted depth map associated therewith, thereby creating a tessellated surface for said visual object, and extracting a virtualized surface for said visual object by selectively projecting each voxel in an object-centered three-dimensional space onto said tessellated surface and finding one or more voxels with zero-crossings. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A virtual reality system, comprising:
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at least three cameras positioned around a visual object to be virtualized; scene transcription hardware in communication with said cameras, wherein said scene transcription hardware includes; a sync signal generator in communication with said at least three cameras, wherein said sync signal generator produces a sync signal that synchronizes the operation of said at least three cameras, at least three storage devices, wherein each of said at least three storage devices is coupled to a corresponding one of said at least three cameras to record analog images supplied by said corresponding one of said at least three cameras on a respective magnetic storage medium, a time code generator coupled to said at least three storage devices, wherein said time code generator time stamps each of said analog images, and an A/D conversion device configured to operate on each said magnetic storage medium off-line, thereby converting said analog images into corresponding digitized images; and an internal representation generator in communication with said scene transcription hardware, said internal representation generator creating a plurality of discrete depth maps by extracting each depth map from an associated one of said digitized images, and wherein said internal representation generator is configured to create an object centered model of said visual object to facilitate generation of a three-dimensional virtualized view thereof. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification