Panoramic imaging and display system with canonical magnifier
First Claim
1. A device for providing a perspective-corrected view of at least a portion of a wide angle image, comprising:
- an image-capturing device having a fish-eye lens for generating the wide angle image as a projection of at least a section of a viewing hemisphere associated with the lens onto an image plane, a processor coupled to the image capturing device that receives the image, the processor further comprising;
a first display module for displaying the wide angle image, and a second display module for displaying a perspective-corrected view of portion of the image, the processor further comprising a correlation module for displaying a graphical object on the displayed wide angle image that identifies the selected portion of the image displayed in the perspective-corrected view, wherein the processor generates said perspective-corrected view from a vantage point offset relative to a center of said viewing hemisphere.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides an image acquisition and viewing system that employs a fish-eye lens and an imager, such as, a CCD array, to obtain a wide angle image, e.g., an image of a hemispherical field of view. The system of the invention further includes a primary display for displaying the image, and a secondary display for presenting a perspective-corrected view of a selected portion of the image. A processor effects correction of a selected portion of the image for distortions introduced by the fish-eye lens by utilizing methods according to the teachings of the invention. The processor further effects the display of the image and its perspective-corrected portion thereof on the primary and the secondary displays, respectively. Moreover, the processor effects the display of a graphical object on the first display to delineate the portion that is presented on the secondary display. This allows a viewer to view simultaneously the image and the perspective-corrected portion, thereby gleaning information regarding the context of the perspective-corrected portion within the entire image while viewing it.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A device for providing a perspective-corrected view of at least a portion of a wide angle image, comprising:
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an image-capturing device having a fish-eye lens for generating the wide angle image as a projection of at least a section of a viewing hemisphere associated with the lens onto an image plane, a processor coupled to the image capturing device that receives the image, the processor further comprising;
a first display module for displaying the wide angle image, and a second display module for displaying a perspective-corrected view of portion of the image, the processor further comprising a correlation module for displaying a graphical object on the displayed wide angle image that identifies the selected portion of the image displayed in the perspective-corrected view, wherein the processor generates said perspective-corrected view from a vantage point offset relative to a center of said viewing hemisphere. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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11. The device of claim 10, wherein each of the distorted and undistorted image planes includes a two-dimensional array of pixels providing a digital luminance map corresponding to the image or a perspective-corrected portion of the image, respectively.
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12. The device of claim 11, wherein the processor generates the luminance value of a pixel corresponding to the point (u,v) by calculating a weighted average of luminance values of two or more pixels surrounding the point (x,y), if the point (x,y) does not correspond to a pixel on the distorted image plane.
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13. A device for providing a perspective-corrected view of at least a portion of a wide angle image, comprising:
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an image-capturing device having a fish-eye lens for generating the wide angle image, a processor in communication with the image-capturing device, the processor correcting at least a portion of the image for distortions introduced by the fish-eye lens by mapping a point (u,v) on an undistorted image plane corresponding to a perspective-corrected view of the image portion to a point (x,y) on a distorted image plane corresponding to the image in accord with an angle for viewing a section of the hemisphere corresponding to the image portion from a vantage point offset from a center of the hemisphere and a distance between the vantage point and the center of the hemisphere. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. A method for generating a perspective-corrected view of a portion of a fish-eye image, comprising:
mapping a point (u,v) on an undistorted image plane corresponding to a perspective view of the image portion to a point (x,y) on a distorted image plane corresponding to the fish-eye image according to the following equations;
Specification