System and process for viewing and navigating through an interactive video tour
First Claim
1. In a computer system having a user interface comprising a display and user interface selection device, a process for presenting an interactive video tour of a tour site, comprising process actions for:
- inputting data associated with the video tour, said inputting comprising,inputting video data comprising a sequence of video frames each of which represents a panoramic view of the tour site from a particular location along said path, andinputting scene data, which given a viewing direction and optionally a user-specified direction of motion along the tour path, is used to determine which video frame and what part of that video frame is needed to render and display the next image of the video tour;
displaying a viewing and navigation window on the display, wherein the window comprises a plurality of sectors for viewing and controlling the video tour; and
implementing commands entered by a user directly via said selection device and via the user selecting displayed items within the viewing and navigation window sectors using said selection device, so as to give the user continuous control over both the viewing position along a path through the tour site and viewing direction at points on the path.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and process for providing an interactive video tour of a tour site to a user is presented. In general, the system and process provides an image-based rendering system that enables users to explore remote real world locations, such as a house or a garden. The present approach is based directly on filming an environment, and then using image-based rendering techniques to replay the tour in an interactive manner. As such, the resulting experience is referred to as Interactive Video Tours. The experience is interactive in that the user can move freely along a path, choose between different directions of motion at branch points in the path, and look around in any direction. The user experience is additionally enhanced with multimedia elements such as overview maps, video textures, and sound.
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Citations
45 Claims
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1. In a computer system having a user interface comprising a display and user interface selection device, a process for presenting an interactive video tour of a tour site, comprising process actions for:
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inputting data associated with the video tour, said inputting comprising, inputting video data comprising a sequence of video frames each of which represents a panoramic view of the tour site from a particular location along said path, and inputting scene data, which given a viewing direction and optionally a user-specified direction of motion along the tour path, is used to determine which video frame and what part of that video frame is needed to render and display the next image of the video tour; displaying a viewing and navigation window on the display, wherein the window comprises a plurality of sectors for viewing and controlling the video tour; and implementing commands entered by a user directly via said selection device and via the user selecting displayed items within the viewing and navigation window sectors using said selection device, so as to give the user continuous control over both the viewing position along a path through the tour site and viewing direction at points on the path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer-implemented process for providing an interactive video tour of a tour site to a user, comprising using a computer to perform the following process actions:
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(a) inputting video data comprising a sequence of video frames each of which represents a panoramic view of the tour site from a particular location along a path through the tour site; (b) inputting scene data which comprises information to identify the frame associated with each specifiable location along the path, and that given a viewing direction and a user-specified direction of motion along the tour path, is used to determine which video frame and what part of that video frame is needed to render and display the next image of the video tour; (c) for a given viewing position within the site along the path, identifying the frame associated with that position using the scene data and designating it as the current frame; (d) inputting a current user-specified viewing direction, and a current user-specified direction of motion along the tour path, if one; (e) obtaining from the video data that portion of the current frame which corresponds to a prescribed field of view around the current viewing direction; (f) rendering the obtained portion of the current frame and displaying it to the user, while simultaneously identifying the frame needed to display the next image of the video tour in view of the user-specified direction of motion along the tour path using the scene data; (g) designating the newly identified frame as the current frame in lieu of the previously identified frame; (h) repeating process action (d) through (g) for as long as the user wants to view the video tour. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A system for providing an interactive video tour of a tour site to a user, comprising:
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a general purpose computing device comprising a display and a user selection device; and a computer program comprising program modules executable by the computing device, wherein the computing device is directed by the program modules of the computer program to, input video data comprising a sequence of video frames each of which represents a panoramic view of the tour site from a particular location along a path through the tour site, input scene data comprising information to identify the frame associated with each specifiable location along the path, and that given a viewing direction and a user-specified direction of motion along the tour path, is used to determine which video frame and what part of that video frame is needed to render and display the next image of the video tour, display a viewing and navigation window on the display, wherein the window comprises a plurality of sectors for viewing and controlling the video tour, and implementing commands comprising a current user-specified viewing direction and a current user-specified direction of motion along the tour path, if one, which are entered by a user directly via said selection device and via the user selecting displayed items within the viewing and navigation window sectors using said selection device, so as to give the user continuous control over both the viewing position along a path through the tour site and viewing direction at points on the path. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for providing an interactive video tour of a tour site to a user, said computer-executable instructions comprising:
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(a) inputting video data comprising a sequence of video frames each of which represents a panoramic view of the tour site from a particular location along a path through the tour site; (b) inputting audio data which represents sounds associated with the tour site; (c) inputting scene data which comprises information to identify the frame associated with each specifiable location along the path, and that given a viewing direction and a user-specified direction of motion along the tour path, is used to determine which video frame and what part of that video frame is needed to render and display the next image of the video tour; (d) for a given viewing position within the site along the path, identifying the frame associated with that position using the scene data and designating it as the current frame; (e) inputting a current user-specified viewing direction, and a current user-specified direction of motion along the tour path, if one; (f) obtaining from the video data that portion of the current frame which corresponds to a prescribed field of view around the current viewing direction; (g) rendering the obtained portion of the current frame and displaying it to the user, while simultaneously identifying the frame needed to display the next image of the video tour in view of the user-specified direction of motion along the tour path using the scene data; (h) designating the newly identified frame as the current frame in lieu of the previously identified frame; (i) repeating process action (e) through (h) for as long as the user wants to view the video tour. - View Dependent Claims (45)
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Specification