Patent ID: 7224382

Claim:
An imaging system for producing wide-angle stereoscopic images, the system comprising: at least two optical sub-systems mounted so as to collectively capture a wide-angle field-of-view; and a stereoscopic display processing sub-system for processing overlapping images simultaneously from each optical sub-system; wherein each optical sub-system includes: a field-of-view which overlaps with a field-of-view of each adjacent optical sub-system; a first optical path with a first lens, a first lens-mounting structure and a first reflective element with a first reflective surface for directing an image in a first field-of-view to project on a first image sensor in the first optical path, wherein the first image sensor is mounted to a bottom side of a top capture board and the first reflective element has a first rear surface; a second optical path with a second lens, a second lens-mounting structure and a second reflective element with a second reflective surface for directing an image in a second field-of-view to project on a second image sensor in the second optical path, wherein the second image sensor is mounted on the top side of a bottom capture board and the second reflective element has a second rear surface; wherein the first rear surface and the second rear surface are positioned so that first rear surface and the second rear surface are facing each other in order for the first reflective surface of the first reflective element and the second reflective surface of the second reflective element to capture overlapping images derived from an image in the first field-of-view and an image in the second field-of-view on a common physical optical plane.