Patent ID: 7423272
Filing Date: 2008-09-09
Classification: G06T,G08B,H04N,Y10S

Abstract:
1. An imaging apparatus comprising: imaging means for photographing an area, while sequentially setting a photographing direction to unit images that constitute a panorama image of the entire area; panorama-image generating means for generating a panorama image by combining a plurality of unit images obtained by the imaging means, the panorama-image generating means generating the panorama image by spatially combining the plurality of unit images such that the panorama image is larger than any of the unit images; panorama-image storage/management means for storing and managing the panorama image generated by the panorama-image generating means; thermography imaging means for photographing an object that has a temperature falling within a preset temperature range as a thermal image; direction control means for sequentially shifting the photographing direction of the thermography imaging means within the area being photographed; thermal-image generating means for combining a plurality of thermal images provided by the thermography imaging means, thereby to generate a panorama thermal image of the entire area, the thermal-image generating means generating the panorama thermal image by spatially combining the plurality of thermal images such that the panorama thermal image is larger than any of the thermal images; image-synthesizing means for synthesizing the panorama image generated by the panorama-image generating means, with the panorama thermal image generated by the thermal-image generating means to create a synthesized image; and image-displaying means for displaying the synthesized image generated by the image-synthesizing means.