US 10,455,221 B2Granted

Stereo viewing

AssigneeNokia Technologies Oy

InventorsKim Gronholm, Andrew Robert Baldwin

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Abstract

The invention relates to creating and viewing stereo images, for example stereo video images, also called 3D video. At least three camera sources with overlapping fields of view are used to capture a scene so that an area of the scene is covered by at least three cameras. At the viewer, a camera pair is chosen from the multiple cameras to create a stereo camera pair that best matches the location of the eyes of the user if they were located at the place of the camera sources. That is, a camera pair is chosen so that the disparity created by the camera sources resembles the disparity that the user's eyes would have at that location. If the user tilts his head, or the view orientation is otherwise altered, a new pair can be formed, for example by switching the other camera. The viewer device then forms the images of the video frames for the left and right eyes by picking the best sources for each area of each image for realistic stereo disparity.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method, comprising:

decoding both active and passive source video signals that have been differently encoded according to a viewing angle of a user with a visible region that was captured by one or more active image sources being encoded in higher quality than one or more regions not currently visible that were captured by one or more passive image sources,
determining head orientation of a user to obtain a first head orientation,
selecting a first image source, a second image source and a third image source, from three or more image sources, based on said first head orientation, said first and second image source forming a stereo image source,
rendering a first target image for one eye of the user using decoded video signals from said first image source and a second target image for another eye of the user using decoded video signals from said second image source,
determining head orientation of said user to obtain a second head orientation,
selecting said second image source and the third image source based on said second head orientation, said second and third image source forming a stereo image source,
rendering a third target image for one eye of the user using decoded video signals from said second image source and a fourth target image for another eye of the user using decoded video signals from said third image source,
stitching at least a part of an image from the third image source with at least one of the first target image and the second target image, and
stitching at least a part of an image from the third image source with at least one of the third target image and the fourth target image.

6 more elements

An apparatus comprising at least one processor, and memory including computer program code, the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least:

decode both active and passive source video signals that have been differently encoded according to a viewing angle of a user with a visible region that was captured by one or more active image sources being encoded in higher quality than one or more regions not currently visible that were captured by one or more passive image sources,
determine head orientation of a user to obtain a first head orientation,
select a first image source, a second image source and a third image source, from three or more image sources, based on said first head orientation, said first and second image source forming a stereo image source,
render a first target image for one eye of the user using decoded video signals from said first image source and a second target image for another eye of the user using decoded video signals from said second image source,
determine head orientation of said user to obtain a second head orientation,
select said second image source and the third image source based on said second head orientation, said second and third image source forming a stereo image source,
render a third target image for one eye of the user using decoded video signals from said second image source and a fourth target image for another eye of the user using decoded video signals from said third image source,
stitch at least a part of an image from the third image source with at least one of the first target image and the second target image, and
stitch at least a part of an image from the third image source with at least one of the third target image and the fourth target image.

6 more elements

decode both active and passive source video signals that have been differently encoded according to a viewing angle of a user with a visible region that was captured by one or more active image sources being encoded in higher quality than one or more regions not currently visible that were captured by one or more passive image sources,
determine head orientations of a user for forming a stereo video sequence of a scene;
select a first image source, a second image source and a third image source, from three or more image sources, based on said head orientations;
render said stereo video sequence by rendering an image sequence for the left eye of the user using decoded video signals from said first image source and said second image source and an image sequence for the right eye of the user using decoded video signals from said second image source and said third image source, wherein said second image source is used to render different areas of said scene for the left and right eyes of the user in each stereo frame of said video sequence, wherein the stereo video sequence is rendered by rendering a first target image for the left eye of the user using decoded video signals from said first image source and a second target image for the right eye of the user using decoded video signals from said second image source and rendering a third target image for the left eye of the user using decoded video signals from said second image source and a fourth target image for the right eye of the user using decoded video signals from said third image source;
stitch at least a part of an image from the third image source with at least one of the first target image and the second target image, and
stitch at least a part of an image from the third image source with at least one of the third target image and the fourth target image.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/302,123Filed 19 Mar 2015
Priority: GB 1406201.27 Apr 2014
Published: US 2017/0118458 A127 Apr 2017
Granted: 22 Oct 2019
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification34 codes

H04N 13/279
From three-dimensional [3D] object models, e.g. computer-generated stereoscopic image signals: the virtual viewpoint locations being selected by…
G02B 27/0093
Optical systems or apparatus not provided for by any of the groups G02B1/00 - G02B26/00, G02B30/00: with means for monitoring data relating to the…
G02B 30/34
By providing first and second parallax images to an observer's left and right eyes: stereoscopes providing a stereoscopic pair of separated images…
G03B 35/08
Stereoscopic photography: by simultaneous recording

Family

US 2017/0118458 A1Pre-grant publication · published 27 Apr 2017
US 10,455,221 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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