Apparatus and method for generating images of a scene

A method of generating images of a scene, the method comprising:

• storing a set of anchor poses for the scene;
• receiving viewer poses for a viewer;
• selecting a reference anchor pose from the set of anchor poses,
• wherein the set of anchor poses comprise a first anchor pose and a second anchor pose,
• wherein the selecting selection comprises switching the reference anchor pose from the first anchor pose to the second anchor pose in response to the viewer poses meeting a criterion;
• determining a first render pose in the scene for a current viewer pose of the viewer poses, wherein the first render pose is determined relative to the reference anchor pose;
• retrieving a first three-dimensional image data for the reference anchor pose;
• synthesizing an image for the first render pose in response to the first three dimensional image data;
• determining the first render pose from a mapping of the viewer poses to render poses,
• wherein the mapping depends on which anchor pose of the set of anchor poses is selected as the reference anchor pose,
• wherein the mapping is a constant linear mapping for a first distance from the render pose to the reference anchor pose,
• wherein the first distance does not exceed a threshold.

An apparatus for generating images of a scene, the apparatus comprising:

• a memory circuit, wherein the memory circuit is arranged to store a set of anchor poses for the scene;
• a receiver circuit, wherein the receiver circuit is arranged to receive viewer poses of a viewer;
• a selector circuit, wherein the selector circuit is arranged to select a reference anchor pose from the set of anchor poses;
• a render pose processor circuit, wherein the render pose processor circuit is arranged to determine a first render pose in the scene for a current viewer pose of the viewer poses;
• a retriever circuit, wherein the retriever circuit is arranged to retrieve a first three-dimensional image data for the reference anchor pose;
• and
• a synthesizer circuit, wherein the synthesizer circuit is arranged to synthesize an image for the first render pose in response to the first three dimensional image data,
• wherein the set of anchor poses comprise a first anchor pose and a second anchor pose,
• wherein the selector circuit is arranged to switch the reference anchor pose from the first anchor pose to the second anchor pose in response to the viewer poses meeting a criterion,
• wherein the render pose processor circuit is arranged to determine the first render pose from a mapping of viewer poses to render poses,
• wherein the mapping depends on which anchor pose of the set of anchor poses is selected as the reference anchor pose,
• wherein the mapping is a constant linear mapping for a first distance from the render pose to the reference anchor pose,
• wherein the first distance does not exceed a threshold.