Patent ID: 6677982
Filing Date: 2004-01-13
Classification: G06T,H04N

Abstract:
A method for deriving a three-dimensional panorama from a plurality of stereo image pairs of a scene generated from a plurality of cameras, the method comprising the steps of:(a) acquiring a plurality of stereo image pairs of the scene, wherein there is an intra-overlap region between vertically aligned stereo image pairs; (b) acquiring a plurality of stereo image pairs of the scene by rotating the plurality of cameras about a Y-axis (vertical axis), wherein there is an inter-overlap region between adjacent stereo image pairs; (c) providing disparity data for every pair (intra-pair) of stereo images to recover scene spatial information (X,Y,Z) with respect to local XYZ coordinate systems; (d) selecting a reference three-dimensional world coordinate system against which spatial information of the scene can be correctly presented; (e) transforming the scene spatial information (X,Y,Z) values from each of the local three-dimensional coordinate systems to the selected reference three-dimensional world coordinate system; (f) warping the transformed (X,Y,Z) images onto a cylindrical surface, and forming a plurality of warped (X,Y,Z) images; (g) registering adjacent warped (X,Y,Z) images; and (h) forming a three-dimensional panorama, i.e., a (X,Y,Z) panorama using the warped (X,Y,Z) images.