Virtual reality camera

• US 8,031,223 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2006
• Issued: 10/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cedar Lane Technologies Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intellectual Ventures I LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Teo, Patrick
• Primary Examiner(s): PHILIPPE, GIMS S
• Application Number:
  US11/515,498
• Publication Number:
  US 20070109398A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,860 Days
• Field of Search: 348/36, 348/42, 348/333.12, 396/324, 396/130, 396/322, 345/660, 358/71, 359/725
• US Class Current: 348/36
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/698 for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2621 Cameras specially adapted for the electronic generation of special effects during image pickup, e.g. digital cameras, camcorders, video cameras having integrated special effects capability
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2624 for obtaining an image which is composed of whole input images, e.g. splitscreen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2628 Alteration of picture size, shape, position or orientation, e.g. zooming, rotation, rolling, perspective, translation

Abstract

A camera including a camera lens, acquisition circuitry receiving images via the camera lens, for acquiring a first field of view when the camera lens is in a first orientation and for acquiring a second field of view when the camera lens is in a second orientation, and a viewfinder displaying the second field of view when the camera lens is in the second orientation and displaying at least a portion of the first field of view at least partially composited with the second field of view.

Claims

1. A camera, comprising:

image acquisition circuitry configured to receive images and to acquire a first field of view corresponding to a first orientation of the camera and to acquire a second field of view if the camera is in a second orientation;

a viewfinder configured to display the second field of view if the camera is in the second orientation and to display at least a portion of the first field of view at least partially composited with the second field of view;

rectilinear-to-cylindrical conversion circuitry configured to convert the first and second fields of view from rectilinear coordinates to cylindrical coordinates; and

cylindrical-to-rectilinear conversion circuitry configured to convert a selected portion of a panoramic image from cylindrical coordinates to rectilinear coordinates.

2. The camera of claim 1, wherein the second field of view at least partially overlaps the first field of view.

3. The camera of claim 1, wherein a size of the at least a portion of the first field of view is capable of being prescribed.

4. The camera of claim 3, wherein the size of the at least a portion of the first field of view is capable of being prescribed relative to a size of the first field of view.

5. The camera of claim 3, wherein the size of the at least a portion of the first field of view is capable of being prescribed relative to a size of the second field of view.

6. The camera of claim 5, wherein the size of the at least a portion of the first field of view comprises a width, and the size of the second field of view comprises a width.

7. The camera of claim 5, wherein the size of the at least a portion of the first field of view comprises a height, and the size of the second field of view comprises a height.

8. The camera of claim 5, wherein the size of the at least a portion of the first field of view comprises the field of view angle the size of the at least a portion of the first field of view subtends, and the size of the second field of view comprises the field of view angle the size of the second field of view subtends.

9. The camera of claim 5, wherein the size of the at least a portion of the first field of view is capable of being prescribed to an amount between about 20% and about 40% of the size of the second field of view.

10. The camera of claim 1, wherein the at least a portion of the first field of view is capable of being composited with the second field of view by an opacity of approximately 50%.

11. The camera of claim 1, wherein the at least a portion of the first field of view is capable of being composited with the second field of view by an opacity of approximately 100%.

12. The camera of claim 1, further comprising a camera lens, and

wherein a focus of the camera lens is configured to not be changed during acquisition of the first and second fields of view.

13. The camera of claim 12, further comprising a lens focus lock capable of locking the focus of the camera lens during acquisition of the first and second fields of view.

14. The camera of claim 1, further comprising combining circuitry configured to combine the first and second fields of view.

15. The camera of claim 14, wherein the first and second fields of view comprise portions of a scene and wherein the combining circuitry is configured to combine the first and second fields of view into the panoramic image.

16. The camera of claim 15, wherein the panoramic image comprises a cylindrical geometry.

17. The camera of claim 15, wherein the panoramic image comprises a spherical geometry.

18. The camera of claim 15, further comprising rectilinear-to-spherical conversion circuitry configured to convert the first and second fields of view from rectilinear coordinates to spherical coordinates.

19. The camera of claim 15, further comprising view control circuitry capable of selecting a portion of the panoramic image to display, and

wherein the viewfinder is configured to display the selected portion of the panoramic image.

20. The camera of claim 15, wherein the panoramic image comprises a spherical geometry, and the camera further comprises spherical-to-rectilinear conversion circuitry configured to convert the selected portion of the panoramic image from spherical coordinates to rectilinear coordinates.

21. The camera of claim 1, further comprising a camera lens,

wherein the acquisition circuitry is capable of acquiring at least one additional field of view with the camera being in at least one additional orientation, and

wherein the viewfinder is capable of displaying an additional field of view of the camera when the camera is in each additional orientation and is configured to display at least a portion of at least one previously acquired field of view at least partially composited with the additional field of view.

22. The camera of claim 21, wherein each additional field of view is configured to at least partially overlap the at least one previously acquired field of view.

23. The camera of claim 21, wherein the at least a portion of the at least one previously acquired field of view is configured to be composited with the additional field of view by an opacity of approximately 50%.

24. The camera of claim 21, wherein the at least a portion of the at least one previously acquired field of view is configured to be composited with the additional field of view by an opacity of approximately 100%.

25. The camera of claim 21, wherein a focus of the camera lens is unchanged during acquisition of the first and second and the at least one additional fields of view.

26. The camera of claim 21, further comprising a lens focus lock configured to lock a focus of the camera lens during acquisition of the first and second and the at least one additional fields of view.

27. The camera of claim 21, further comprising an indicator capable of indicating when the camera is in the second orientation.

28. The camera of claim 27, wherein the indicator comprises a light source.

29. The camera of claim 27, wherein the indicator comprises a beeper.

30. The camera of claim 21, further comprising combining circuitry capable of combining the first and second and the at least one additional fields of view.

31. The camera of claim 30, wherein the first and second and the at least one additional fields of view comprise portions of a scene and wherein the combining circuitry is configured to combine the first and second and the at least one additional fields of view into a panoramic image of the scene.

32. The camera of claim 1, further comprising perspective conversion circuitry configured to convert a perspective of the at least a portion of the first field of view from relative to the first orientation to relative to the second orientation.

33. The camera of claim 32, wherein the perspective conversion circuitry comprises line processing circuitry configured to determine modified color values at pixel locations within vertical lines of the converted at least a portion of the first field of view.

34. The camera of claim 33, wherein the line processing circuitry is configured to determine the modified color values at pixel locations within vertical lines of the converted at least a portion of the first field of view based at least in part on unmodified color values at a corresponding vertical line of the at least a portion of the first field of view.

35. The camera of claim 33, wherein the line processing circuitry is configured to reseal vertical lines of the at least a portion of the first field of view.

36. A method performed by a computing device having a processor and a memory, comprising:

converting by the processor at least a portion of a first image and at least a portion of a second image from a rectilinear-based view to a cylindrical-based view based at least in part on a conversion from rectilinear to cylindrical coordinates;

converting by the processor at least a portion of the cylindrical-based view to a rectilinear-based view based at least in part on a conversion from cylindrical to rectilinear coordinates; and

displaying at least a selected portion of the rectilinear-based view converted from the cylindrical-based view.

37. The method according to claim 36, further comprising compositing the at least a portion of the first and the at least a portion of the second images.

38. The method according to claim 36, further comprising displaying the at least a portion of the first and the at least a portion of the second images.

39. The method according to claim 36, further comprising combining the at least a portion of the first and the at least a portion of the second images into a panoramic image.

40. The method according to claim 39, wherein the panoramic image comprises a cylindrical geometry.

41. The method according to claim 39, wherein the panoramic image comprises a spherical geometry.

42. The method according to claim 39, further comprising converting the at least a portion of first and the at least a portion of the second images from rectilinear coordinates to spherical coordinates.

43. The method according to claim 36, further comprising converting a perspective of a portion of the first image from relative to a first orientation to relative to a second orientation.

44. The method according to claim 43, wherein the perspective converting further comprises line processing which comprises determining modified color values at pixel locations within vertical lines of the portion of the first image.

45. The method according to claim 44, wherein the line processing further comprises determining the modified color values at pixel locations within vertical lines of the portion of the first image based at least in part on unmodified color values at a corresponding vertical line of the portion of the first image.

46. The method according to claim 44, wherein the line processing further comprises rescaling vertical lines of the portion of the first image.

47. A system, comprising:

means for converting at least a portion of a first image and at least a portion of a second image from a rectilinear-based view to a cylindrical-based view based at least in part upon a conversion from rectilinear to cylindrical coordinates;

means for converting at least a portion of the cylindrical-based view to a rectilinear-based view based at least in part on a conversion from cylindrical to rectilinear coordinates; and

means for displaying at least a selected portion of the rectilinear-based view converted from the cylindrical-based view.

48. The system according to claim 47, further comprising means for compositing the at least a portion of the first and the at least a portion of the second images.

49. The system according to claim 47, further comprising means for displaying the at least a portion of the first and the at least a portion of the second images.

50. The system according to claim 47, further comprising means for converting the at least a portion of the first and the at least a portion of the second images from rectilinear coordinates to spherical coordinates.

51. The system according to claim 47, further comprising means for combining the at least a portion of the first and the at least a portion of the second images into a panoramic image.

52. The system according to claim 51, wherein the panoramic image comprises a cylindrical geometry.

53. The system according to claim 47, further comprising means for converting a perspective of a portion of the first image from relative to a first orientation to relative to a second orientation.

54. The system according to claim 53, wherein the means for perspective converting further comprises means for line processing which comprises means for determining modified color values at pixel locations within vertical lines of the portion of the first image.

55. The system according to claim 54, wherein the means for line processing further comprises means for determining the modified color values at pixel locations within vertical lines of the portion of the first image based at least in part on unmodified color values at a corresponding vertical line of the portion of the first image.

56. The system according to claim 54, wherein the means for line processing further comprises means for resealing vertical lines of the portion of the first image.

57. A computer readable storage device having stored thereon instructions that, if executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform at least the following:

converting at least a portion of a first image and at least a portion of a second image from a rectilinear-based view to a cylindrical-based view based at least in part upon a conversion from rectilinear to cylindrical coordinates;

converting at least a portion of the cylindrical-based view to a rectilinear-based view based at least in part on a conversion from cylindrical to rectilinear coordinates; and

displaying at least a selected portion of the rectilinear-based view converted from the cylindrical-based view.

58. The article according to claim 57, further comprising compositing the at least a portion of the first and the at least a portion of the second views.

59. The article according to claim 57, further comprising displaying the at least a portion of the first and the at least a portion of the second images.

60. The article according to claim 57, further comprising converting the at least a portion of the first and the at least a portion of the second images from rectilinear coordinates to spherical coordinates.

61. The article according to claim 57, further comprising combining the at least a portion of first and the at least a portion of the second images into a panoramic image.

62. The article according to claim 61, wherein the panoramic image comprises a cylindrical geometry.

63. The article according to claim 57, further comprising converting a perspective of a portion of the first image from relative to a first orientation to relative to a second orientation.

64. The article according to claim 63, wherein the perspective converting further comprises line processing which comprises determining modified color values at pixel locations within vertical lines of the portion of the first image.

65. The article according to claim 64, wherein the line processing further comprises determining modified color values at pixel locations within vertical lines of the portion of the first image based at least in part on unmodified color values at a corresponding vertical line of the portion of the first image.

66. The article according to claim 64, wherein the line processing further comprises rescaling vertical lines of the portion of the first image.