Patent ID: 7952606

Claim:
An apparatus for providing an omnidirectional stereo image with a single camera, the apparatus comprising: a first reflector reflecting a first omnidirectional view-viewed from a first viewpoint; a second reflector positioned to be coaxial with and separated from the first reflector to reflect a second omnidirectional view viewed from a first viewpoint; a third reflector positioned to be coaxial with the first and second reflectors to reflect the second omnidirectional view reflected by the second reflector, wherein the second and third reflectors have a folded structure satisfying a single viewpoint constraint; and an image sensor positioned to be coaxial with the first, second and third reflectors to capture an omnidirectional stereo image containing the first omnidirectional view reflected by the first reflector and the second omnidirectional view reflected by the third reflector, and output the captured omnidirectional stereo image, wherein shapes of the first, second, and third reflectors and a relative positional relationship between the first, second, third reflectors and the image sensor satisfy the single viewpoint constraint for the first viewpoint and for the second viewpoint.