Information processing apparatus, information processing system, and information processing method

An information processing apparatus, comprising:

• circuitry configured to:
• receive data via a communication network;
• input, via a reception device, a photographed image from a plurality of viewpoints;
• and
• generate a plurality of virtual viewpoint images based on the photographed image;
• combine the plurality of virtual viewpoint images to generate a combined image to be output to a display device;
• control the display device to display the combined image;
• generate a plurality of user viewpoint images of a plurality of viewing users based on a line-of-sight direction of each of the plurality of viewing users, wherein
• the plurality of user viewpoint images corresponds to the plurality of virtual viewpoint images, and
• the plurality of viewing users views the display device;
• extract a portion of each of the plurality of user viewpoint images based on a relative position between each viewing user of the plurality of viewing users and the display device;
• and
• generate the combined image based on a combination of the extracted portion.

An information processing system, comprising:

• a transmission apparatus configured to transmit an image;
• and
• a reception apparatus configured to:
• receive the image from the transmission apparatus;
• and
• control a display device to display the image, wherein the transmission apparatus includes a circuitry configured to
• input a photographed image from a plurality of viewpoints;
• generate a plurality of virtual viewpoint images based on the photographed image;
• combine the plurality of virtual viewpoint images to generate a combined image to be output to the display device;
• generate a plurality of user viewpoint images of a plurality of viewing users based on a line-of-sight direction of each of the plurality of viewing users, wherein
• the plurality of user viewpoint images corresponds to the plurality of virtual viewpoint images, and
• the plurality of viewing users views the display device;
• extract a portion from each of the plurality of user viewpoint images based on a relative position between each viewing user of the plurality of viewing users and the display device;
• and
• generate the combined image based on a combination of the extracted portion, wherein the reception apparatus is further configured to:
• receive the combined image transmitted by the transmission apparatus;
• and
• display the received combined image on the display device.

An information processing method, comprising:

• in an information processing apparatus:
• inputting a photographed image from a plurality of viewpoints;
• generating a plurality of virtual viewpoint images based on the photographed image;
• combining the plurality of virtual viewpoint images to generate a combined image to be output to a display device;
• generating a plurality of user viewpoint images of a plurality of viewing users based on a line-of-sight direction of each of the plurality of viewing users, wherein
• the plurality of user viewpoint images corresponds to the plurality of virtual viewpoint images, and
• the plurality of viewing users views the display device;
• extracting a portion of each of the plurality of user viewpoint images based on a relative position between each viewing user of the plurality of viewing users and the display device;
• and
• generating the combined image based on a combination of the extracted portion.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon, computer-executable instructions, which when executed by an information processing apparatus, cause the information processing apparatus to execute operations, the operations comprising:

• inputting a photographed image from a plurality of viewpoints;
• generating a plurality of virtual viewpoint images based on the photographed image;
• combining the plurality of virtual viewpoint images to generate a combined image to be output to a display device;
• generating a plurality of user viewpoint images of a plurality of viewing users based on a line-of-sight direction of each of the plurality of viewing users, wherein
• the plurality of user viewpoint images corresponds to the plurality of virtual viewpoint images, and
• the plurality of viewing users views the display device;
• extracting a portion of each of the plurality of user viewpoint images based on a relative position between each viewing user of the plurality of viewing users and the display device;
• and
• generating the combined image based on a combination of the extracted portion.