Patent ID: 7668377

Claim:
A method of obtaining a depth map from a digital image of a three-dimensional scene containing geometric objects, comprising: using a processor to perform the steps of: identifying in the image at least one horizontal plane or one vertical plane of the three-dimensional scene and identifying in the image at least two vanishing lines that intersect each other at a point, the identifying of at least two vanishing lines comprising the following steps: identifying in the image the outline of at least one geometric object of the three-dimensional scene; identifying a multiplicity of straight lines passing through points of the outline; identifying in this multiplicity of straight lines a predetermined number of straight lines and choosing from among them those that occur most frequently; and selecting from among the predetermined number of straight lines at least two straight lines that intersect each other at a point to be the identified vanishing lines; and assigning to each point of the image belonging to the identified plane, or to each of the identified planes, a depth level according to its distance from, respectively, a predetermined horizontal or vertical reference straight line of the image.