Patent ID: 11943539
Assignee: MATTERPORT, INC.
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  G | IPC H

Claim 10:
11. An apparatus to gather images and depth information for use in a 360-degree scene, comprising:
a frame;
a drive train mounted to the frame;
an image capture device coupled to the drive train to capture, while pointed in a first direction, a plurality of images at different exposures in a first field of view (FOV) of the 360-degree scene, the image capture device including a lens situated at a no-parallax point substantially at a center of a first axis;
a depth information capture device coupled to the drive train, the depth information capture and the image capture device rotated by the drive train about the first, substantially vertical, axis from the first direction to a second direction, the depth information capture device while being rotated from the first direction to the second direction, to capture depth information for a first portion of the 360-degree scene;
the image capture device to capture, while pointed in the second direction, a plurality of images at different exposures in a second FOV that overlaps the first FOV of the 360-degree scene;
the depth information capture device and the image capture device rotated by the drive train about the first axis from the second direction to a third direction, the depth information capture device while being rotated from the second direction to the third direction, to capture depth information for a portion of the 360-degree scene;
the image capture device, while pointed in the third direction, to capture a plurality of images at different exposures in a third FOV that overlaps the first and second FOVs of the 360-degree scene; and
the depth information capture device associates depth information for the first, second, and third portion of the 360-degree scene with numerical coordinates that identify a location of the depth information generated therefrom, the association being based on a distance between the no-parallax point and the depth information capture device.