Patent ID: 7180536

Claim:
A method for converting a sequence of monoscopic images to a sequence of stereoscopic images, comprising the following steps: a) processing the original sequence of monoscopic images of a scene by use of a device that is capable of reading the individual images, digitizing the images if necessary, and storing the images in a memory unit; b) selecting from said sequence a subset of images of interest; c) computing the collection of affine transformations between the adjacent images in the subset; d) selecting one image of the sequence of the subset of images of a scene that will be one member of the first stereo pair of the sequence; e) searching amongst the remaining images in said subset for a second image, which can be transformed into a suitable stereo partner for said selected image, by determining the cascaded affine transformation to each of the successive images starting with the neighboring image to said selected image and applying the parallax creation until said second image is found; f) calculating a planar transformation by using said selected image, said second image, and the cascaded affine transformation between them; g) applying said planar transformation to said second image; h) storing said selected image and the transformed second image in the memory unit; and i) repeating steps (c) through (h) for the next and each of the remaining images of said selected subset.