Patent ID: 9123117
Filing Date: 2015-09-01
Classification: G02B,G06T,H04N

Abstract:
1. A method of estimating distances to objects within a scene based upon a set of images captured from different viewpoints using a processor configured by an image processing application, the method comprising: selecting the viewpoint of an image from the set of images captured from different viewpoints as a reference viewpoint; normalizing the set of images to increase the similarity of corresponding pixels within the set of images; determining depth estimates for pixel locations in an image from the reference viewpoint using at least a subset of the set of images, wherein generating a depth estimate for a given pixel location in the image from the reference viewpoint comprises: generating confidence metrics for the depth estimates for pixel locations in the image from the reference viewpoint, where a confidence metric for a given depth estimate for a given pixel location in the image from the reference viewpoint encodes at least one confidence factor indicating the reliability of the given depth estimate including a confidence factor determined using a measure of the signal to noise ratio (SNR) in a region surrounding the given pixel of the image from the set of images captured from the reference viewpoint.