Patent ID: 7567274
Filing Date: 2009-07-28
Classification: G06T,H04N

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for creating, managing and publishing interactive virtual tours, the apparatus comprising: a panorama data acquisition unit implementing means of capturing panoramic data representing a plurality of environment maps and preparing said panoramic data for further processing, wherein said panoramic data acquisition unit comprises at least one versatile device for creating representations of stimuli covering substantially all directions around a given reference or view point, said versatile device for creating representations of stimuli comprising at least one grid of one or more focusing elements disposed on an N-dimensional shaped surface, at least one grid of one or more sensor elements disposed on an N-dimensional shaped surface, and at least one grid of one or more stimulus guide elements disposed on an N-dimensional shaped surface, wherein said focusing element grid is adapted to focus stimuli covering substantially all directions around a given reference or view point onto the sensor element grid via the stimulus guide unit, wherein each focusing element or group of focusing elements is associated with and focuses a subset of the entire stimulus space onto a sensor element or group of sensor elements responsive to the stimuli, wherein when a stimulus guide element grid is provided, the focusing element grid is adapted to focus the stimuli onto the stimulus guide element grid for formatting and onward transmission to the sensor element grid, wherein when used, each stimulus guide element or group of elements is associated with and receives stimuli from a focusing element or group of focusing elements and is in turn associated with and transmits stimuli to a sensor element or group of sensor elements; a transform engine responsive to said panoramic data and implementing means of correcting distortions in said panoramic data and/or performing automatic, manual or interactive calibration of said panoramic data and/or transforming said panoramic data into a desired format or set of formats when necessary, wherein said distortion correction is accomplished through steps of: a package generator adapted to generate virtual tour packages containing said panoramic data, commands and/or virtual tour data; a viewing engine responsive to said panoramic data and/or virtual tour packages and implementing means for perspective correction, and user interaction with, said panoramic data and/or virtual tour data when necessary; a control engine adapted to facilitate a higher level of interaction with said panoramic data and virtual tour data, wherein said control engine is connected operatively to and communicates bi-directionally with said viewing engine, renders representative information about all or parts of said virtual tour, permits a particular portion to be selected from said virtual tour and sends signals to said viewing engine that cause said viewing engine to permit the interactive navigation of said selected portion of said virtual tour, wherein said control engine also indicates or causes to be indicated what portion of said virtual tour is currently selected and what sub-part of said selected portion of said virtual tour is currently rendered, wherein said control engine is responsive to user input and commands from said viewing engine and is in turn capable of modifying said representative information about all or parts of said virtual tour in response to said user input and said commands from said viewing engine and is further capable of communicating information indicative of such externally induced modifications to said user and said viewing engine; a display means for rendering output of said viewing engine, control engine, package generator, transform engine, and/or panoramic data acquisition unit.