Virtual reality camera

• US 20070109398A1
• Filed: 08/31/2006
• Published: 05/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cedar Lane Technologies Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intellectual Ventures I LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Teo, Patrick
• Granted Patent: US 8,031,223 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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

1-122. -122. (canceled)

123. A camera, comprising:

image acquisition circuitry capable of receiving images and being capable of acquiring a first field of view corresponding to a first orientation of the camera and capable of acquiring a second field of view if the camera is in a second orientation;

a viewfinder displaying the second field of view if the camera 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;

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

cylindrical-to-rectilinear conversion circuitry capable of converting a selected portion of a panoramic image from cylindrical coordinates to rectilinear coordinates.

124. The camera of claim 123, wherein the second field of view at least partially overlaps the first field of view.

125. The camera of claim 123, wherein a size of the at least a portion of the first field of view is capable of being prescribed.

126. The camera of claim 125, 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.

127. The camera of claim 125, 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.

128. The camera of claim 127, 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.

129. The camera of claim 127, 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.

130. The camera of claim 127, 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 at least a portion of the second field of view subtends.

131. The camera of claim 127, 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.

132. The camera of claim 123, 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%.

133. The camera of claim 123, 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%.

134. The camera of claim 123, further comprising a camera lens, and

wherein a focus of the camera lens is capable of not being changed during acquisition of the first and second fields of view.

135. The camera of claim 134, further comprising a lens focus lock capable of locking a focus of the camera lens during acquisition of the first and second fields of view.

136. The camera of claim 123, further comprising combining circuitry capable of combining the first and second fields of view.

137. The camera of claim 136, wherein the first and second fields of view comprise portions of a scene and wherein the combining circuitry is capable of combining the first and second fields of view into the panoramic image.

138. The camera of claim 137, wherein the panoramic image comprises a cylindrical geometry.

139. The camera of claim 137, wherein the panoramic image comprises a spherical geometry.

140. The camera of claim 137, further comprising rectilinear-to-spherical conversion circuitry capable of converting the first and second fields of view from rectilinear coordinates to spherical coordinates.

141. The camera of claim 137, further comprising view control circuitry capable of selecting a portion of the panoramic image to display, and

wherein the viewfinder is capable of displaying the selected portion of the panoramic image.

142. The camera of claim 137, wherein the panoramic image comprises a cylindrical geometry.

143. The camera of claim 137, wherein the panoramic image comprises a spherical geometry, and the camera further comprises spherical-to-rectilinear conversion circuitry capable of converting the selected portion of the panoramic image from spherical coordinates to rectilinear coordinates.

144. The camera of claim 123, further comprising a camera lens,

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

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

145. The camera of claim 144, wherein each additional field of view is capable of at least partially overlapping the at least one previously acquired field of view.

146. The camera of claim 144, wherein the at least a portion of the at least one previously acquired field of view is capable of being composited with the additional field of view by an opacity of approximately 50%.

147. The camera of claim 144, wherein the at least a portion of the at least one previously acquired field of view is capable of being composited with the additional field of view by an opacity of approximately 100%.

148. The camera of claim 144, 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.

149. The camera of claim 144, further comprising a lens focus lock capable of locking a focus of the camera lens during acquisition of the first and second and the at least one additional fields of view.

150. The camera of claim 144, further comprising an indicator capable of indicating when the camera lens is in the second orientation.

151. The camera of claim 150, wherein the indicator comprises a light source.

152. The camera of claim 150, wherein the indicator comprise a beeper.

153. The camera of claim 144, further comprising combining circuitry capable of combining the first and second and the last least one additional fields of view.

154. The camera of claim 153, 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 capable of combining the first and second and the at least one additional fields of view into a panoramic image of the scene.

155. The camera of claim 123, further comprising perspective conversion circuitry capable of converting a perspective of the at least a portion of the first field of view from the first orientation to the second orientation.

156. The camera of claim 155, wherein the perspective conversion circuitry comprises line processing circuitry capable of determining modified color values at pixel locations within vertical lines of the converted at least a portion of the first field of view.

157. The camera of claim 156, wherein the line processing circuitry is capable of determining 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.

158. The camera of claim 156, wherein the line processing circuitry is capable of resealing vertical lines of the at least a portion of the first field of view.

159. A method, comprising:

converting at least a portion of a first image and 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 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.

160. The method according to claim 159, further comprising compositing the at least a portion of the first and second images.

161. The method according to claim 159, further comprising displaying the at least a portion of the first and second images.

162. The method according to claim 159, further comprising combining the at least a portion of the first and second images into a panoramic image.

163. The method according to claim 162, wherein the panoramic image comprises a cylindrical geometry.

164. The method according to claim 162, wherein the panoramic image comprises a spherical geometry.

165. The method according to claim 162, further comprising converting the at least a portion of first and second images from rectilinear coordinates to spherical coordinates.

166. The method according to claim 162, wherein the panoramic image comprises a cylindrical geometry.

167. The method according to claim 159, further comprising converting a perspective of a portion of the first image from a first orientation to a second orientation.

168. The method according to claim 167, wherein the perspective converting further comprises line processing which comprises determining modified color values at pixel locations within vertical lines of a portion of the first image.

169. The method according to claim 168, 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 portion of the first image.

170. The method according to claim 168, wherein the line processing further comprises resealing vertical lines of the portion of the first image.

171. A system, comprising:

means for converting at least a portion of a first image and 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.

172. The system according to claim 171, further comprising means for compositing the at least a portion of the first and second views.

173. The system according to claim 171, further comprising means for displaying the at least a portion of the first and second images.

174. The system according to claim 171, further comprising means for converting the at least a portion of the first and second images from rectilinear coordinates to spherical coordinates.

175. The system according to claim 171, further comprising means for combining the at least a portion of the first and second images into a panoramic image.

176. The system according to claim 175, wherein the panoramic image comprises a cylindrical geometry.

177. The system according to claim 171, further comprising means for converting a perspective of a portion of the portion of the first image from a first orientation to a second orientation.

178. The system according to claim 177, 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 a portion of the portion of the first image.

179. The system according to claim 178, wherein the means for line processing further comprises means for 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.

180. The system according to claim 178, wherein the means for line processing further comprises means for resealing vertical lines of the portion of the first image.

181. An article comprising:

a computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, if executed, result in at least the following;

converting at least a portion of a first image and 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.

182. The article according to claim 181, further comprising compositing the at least a portion of the first and second views.

183. The article according to claim 181, further comprising displaying the at least a portion of the first and second images.

184. The article according to claim 181, further comprising converting the at least a portion of the first and second images from rectilinear coordinates to spherical coordinates.

185. The article according to claim 181, further comprising combining the at least a portion of first and second images into a panoramic image.

186. The article according to claim 185, wherein the panoramic image comprises a cylindrical geometry.

187. The article according to claim 181, further comprising converting a perspective of a portion of the first image from a first orientation to a second orientation.

188. The article according to claim 187, wherein the perspective converting further comprises line processing which comprises determining modified color values at pixel locations within vertical lines of a portion of the first image.

189. The article according to claim 188, 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.

190. The article according to claim 188, wherein the line processing further comprises resealing vertical lines of the portion of the first image.