Method and apparatus for visualization and manipulation of real 3-D objects in networked environments
First Claim
1. A method of visualizing a real 3-D object by a user using a computer, comprising the steps of:
- capturing the images of the object as a sequence of images;
encoding the sequence of images as video having video frames; and
viewing the object in 3-D by random access of the video.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A new method and apparatus for visualization and manipulation of real 3-D objects are disclosed. This new approach utilizes compressed digital video taking advantage of modern video compression technology. The entire system consists of the image acquisition device, the viewing/manipulation program and the 3-D image database. The system first captures images of the object from all possible view angles as a sequence of images (a video). As neighboring images within the sequence will generally be similar, the sequence will be amenable to standard video compression techniques such as MPEG. The acquired video data (rendition of a real 3-D object) is then stored into a database for later access, for instance, over the Internet.
Through specially developed software, the stored data can be manipulated while viewing the object. The user simply inputs—via a mouse, for instance—the view angle and the software automatically displays the appropriate frame within the video (stored data). The software allows various object manipulations such as rotation in arbitrary direction, as well as zoom, pan, etc. A particular implementation of the viewing program using a Pentium III processor, randomly accessing an MPEG sequence, through pre-decoding of certain anchor frames, is able to decode fast enough for users to perform real-time manipulation of the object.
The captured 3-D image data of an object is stored into a centralized (or distributed) database and users may access the data through the assigned URL for the object over the Internet. The data may or may not be password protected. As such, the overall system is an implementation of a one-stop service for individuals wishing to provide 3-D visualization of real 3-D objects over the Internet.
33 Citations
83 Claims
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1. A method of visualizing a real 3-D object by a user using a computer, comprising the steps of:
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capturing the images of the object as a sequence of images;
encoding the sequence of images as video having video frames; and
viewing the object in 3-D by random access of the video. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A system of visualizing a real 3-D object by a user using a computer, comprising the steps of:
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an image capture device for capturing images of the object as a sequence of images;
an encoder for encoding the sequence of images as video having video frames; and
a viewer for viewing the object in 3-D. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. A program product for viewing and manipulating a real 3-D object, which can run at a computer to perform the steps of:
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capturing the images of the object as a sequence of images;
encoding the sequence of images as video having video frames;
storing the video in a database;
viewing the object in 3-D through random access of the video; and
manipulating the object in 3-D. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56)
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57. The method for enabling a user to visualize and manipulate a real 3-D object, comprising the steps of:
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capturing the images of the object as a sequence of images;
encoding the sequence of images as video having video frames;
storing the video in a database; and
sending the video at the request of the user over a network. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59, 60)
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61. A method of visualizing 3-D volume data of an object, comprising the steps of:
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capturing the 3D volume data as a stack of 2D tomographic images of the object;
obtaining a sequence of projected 2D images by projecting the 3D volume data at prescribed azimuth and elevation angles;
encoding the sequence of projected 2D images wherein each images are tagged with azimuth and elevation angles;
storing the sequence of 2D images; and
viewing the object in 3-D by random access of stored 2D image sequence. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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74. A method of visualizing 3-D volume data of an object, comprising the steps of:
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obtaining a sequence of 2D images at prescribed azimuth and elevation angles rendered by a CAD program;
encoding the sequence of 2D images where each images are tagged with azimuth and elevation angles;
storing the sequence of 2D images; and
viewing the object in 3-D by random access of stored 2D image sequence. - View Dependent Claims (75, 76, 77)
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78. A method of providing a customer with a one-stop service for 3-D visualization of a real object over the Internet, comprising the steps of:
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receiving the object from the customer;
capturing images of the object as a sequence of images each images tagged with an azimuth angle θ and
an elevation angle φ
in the spherical coordinates; and
storing the image sequence in a database for transmission over the Internet at the request of a user. - View Dependent Claims (79, 80, 81, 82, 83)
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Specification