Stereoscopic panorama image creating apparatus, stereoscopic panorama image creating method, stereoscopic panorama image reproducing apparatus, stereoscopic panorama image reproducing method, and recording medium

A stereoscopic panorama image reproducing apparatus, comprising:

• stereoscopic panorama image obtaining means configured to obtain a stereoscopic panorama image formed of left and right panorama images;
• corresponding point detecting means configured to detect, prior to reproduction of the obtained stereoscopic panorama image, a plurality of corresponding points for parallax adjustment in the stereoscopic panorama image, the corresponding points having features matched between the left and right panorama images;
• image shift amount calculating means configured to calculate image shift amounts for setting parallaxes of the detected plurality of corresponding points each at a predetermined parallax amount;
• storage means configured to store position information of the plurality of corresponding points for parallax adjustment on the stereoscopic panorama image and the calculated plurality of image shift amounts as being associated with each other;
• reproducing means configured to cause the obtained stereoscopic panorama image to be magnified with a predetermined magnification, the reproducing means configured to cause the magnified stereoscopic panorama image to be reproduced by scrolling on a stereoscopic display or reproduced by frame advance for each of a plurality of frames obtained by dividing the stereoscopic panorama image, automatically or with a manual instruction input;
• and
• parallax adjusting means configured to select one image shift amount from among a plurality of image shift amounts stored in the storage means correspondingly to the stereoscopic panorama image, the image shift amount corresponding to a stereoscopic image in a screen of the stereoscopic display, the parallax adjusting means configured to perform a parallax adjustment of the stereoscopic image based on the selected image shift amount, when the stereoscopic panorama image is reproduced by scrolling or frame advance by the reproducing means.

A stereoscopic panorama image creating method, comprising:

• a stereoscopic image obtaining step of obtaining a plurality of stereoscopic images formed of left images and right images shot by a stereoscopic imaging apparatus, the stereoscopic images continuously shot with the stereoscopic imaging apparatus being swung in a constant direction;
• a stereoscopic panorama image creating step of creating a stereoscopic panorama image formed of left and right panorama images by synthesizing the left images together and synthesizing the right images together from among the obtained plurality of stereoscopic images;
• a corresponding point detecting step of detecting a plurality of corresponding points for parallax adjustment, the corresponding points having features matched between the left images and the right images of the obtained plurality of stereoscopic images or between the left and right panorama images of the created stereoscopic panorama image;
• an image shift amount calculating step of calculating image shift amounts for setting parallaxes of the detected plurality of corresponding points each at a predetermined parallax amount;
• and
• a recording step of recording the created stereoscopic panorama image in a recording medium and recording position information of the plurality of corresponding points for parallax adjustment on the stereoscopic panorama image and the calculated plurality of image shift amounts as being associated with each other in the recording medium as auxiliary information of the stereoscopic panorama image.

A stereoscopic panorama image reproducing method, comprising:

• a stereoscopic panorama image obtaining step of obtaining a stereoscopic panorama image formed of left and right panorama images;
• a corresponding point detecting step of detecting, prior to reproduction of the obtained stereoscopic panorama image, a plurality of corresponding points for parallax adjustment in the stereoscopic panorama image, the corresponding points having features matched between the left and right panorama images;
• an image shift amount calculating step of calculating image shift amounts for setting parallaxes of the detected plurality of corresponding points each at a predetermined parallax amount;
• a storing step of storing position information of the plurality of corresponding points for parallax adjustment on the stereoscopic panorama image and the calculated plurality of image shift amounts as being associated with each other;
• a reproducing step of causing the obtained stereoscopic panorama image to be magnified with a predetermined magnification and causing the magnified stereoscopic panorama image to be reproduced by scrolling on a stereoscopic display or reproduced by frame advance for each of a plurality of frames obtained by dividing the stereoscopic panorama image, automatically or with a manual instruction input;
• and
• a parallax adjusting step of selecting one image shift amount from among a plurality of image shift amounts stored in the storage means correspondingly to the stereoscopic panorama image, the image shift amount corresponding to a stereoscopic image in a screen of the stereoscopic display, and performing a parallax adjustment of the stereoscopic image based on the selected image shift amount, when the stereoscopic panorama image is reproduced by scrolling or frame advance in the reproducing step.

A stereoscopic panorama image creating program causing a computer to achieve:

• a stereoscopic image obtaining function of obtaining a plurality of stereoscopic images formed of left images and right images shot by a stereoscopic imaging apparatus, the stereoscopic images continuously shot with the stereoscopic imaging apparatus being swung in a constant direction;
• a stereoscopic panorama image creating function of creating a stereoscopic panorama image formed of left and right panorama images by synthesizing the left images together and synthesizing the right images together from among the plurality of stereoscopic images obtained by the stereoscopic image obtaining function;
• a corresponding point detecting function of detecting a plurality of corresponding points for parallax adjustment, the corresponding points having features matched between the left images and the right images of the plurality of stereoscopic images obtained by the stereoscopic image obtaining function or between the left and right panorama images of the created stereoscopic panorama image;
• an image shift amount calculating function of calculating a plurality of image shift amounts for setting parallaxes of the detected plurality of corresponding points each at a predetermined parallax amount;
• and
• a recording function of recording the created stereoscopic panorama image in a recording medium and recording position information of the plurality of corresponding points for parallax adjustment on the stereoscopic panorama image and the calculated plurality of image shift amounts as being associated with each other in the recording medium as auxiliary information of the stereoscopic panorama image.

A stereoscopic panorama image reproducing program causing a computer to achieve:

• a stereoscopic panorama image obtaining function of obtaining a stereoscopic panorama image formed of left and right panorama images;
• a corresponding point detecting function of detecting, prior to reproduction of the obtained stereoscopic panorama image, a plurality of corresponding points for parallax adjustment in the stereoscopic panorama image, the corresponding points having features matched between the left and right panorama images;
• an image shift amount calculating function of calculating image shift amounts for setting parallaxes of the detected plurality of corresponding points each at a predetermined parallax amount;
• a storage function of storing position information of the plurality of corresponding points for parallax adjustment on the stereoscopic panorama image and the calculated plurality of image shift amounts as being associated with each other;
• a reproducing function of causing the obtained stereoscopic panorama image to be magnified with a predetermined magnification and causing the magnified stereoscopic panorama image to be reproduced by scrolling on a stereoscopic display or reproduced by frame advance for each of a plurality of frames obtained by dividing the stereoscopic panorama image, automatically or with a manual instruction input;
• and
• a parallax adjusting function of selecting one image shift amount from among a plurality of image shift amounts stored in the storage function correspondingly to the stereoscopic panorama image, the image shift amount corresponding to a stereoscopic image in a screen of the stereoscopic display, and performing a parallax adjustment of the stereoscopic image based on the selected image shift amount, when the stereoscopic panorama image is reproduced by scrolling or frame advance by the reproducing function.

A computer-readable recording medium causing, when the instruction is read by a processor and executed, the processor to achieve:

• a stereoscopic image obtaining step of obtaining a plurality of stereoscopic images formed of left images and right images shot by a stereoscopic imaging apparatus, the stereoscopic images continuously shot with the stereoscopic imaging apparatus being swung in a constant direction;
• a stereoscopic panorama image creating step of creating a stereoscopic panorama image formed of left and right panorama images by synthesizing the left images together and synthesizing the right images together from among the plurality of stereoscopic images obtained in the stereoscopic image obtaining step;
• a corresponding point detecting step of detecting a plurality of corresponding points for parallax adjustment, the corresponding points having features matched between the left images and the right images of the plurality of stereoscopic images obtained in the stereoscopic image obtaining step or between the left and right panorama images of the created stereoscopic panorama image;
• an image shift amount calculating step of calculating a plurality of image shift amounts for setting parallaxes of the detected plurality of corresponding points each at a predetermined parallax amount;
• and
• a recording step of recording the created stereoscopic panorama image in a recording medium and recording position information of the plurality of corresponding points for parallax adjustment on the stereoscopic panorama image and the calculated plurality of image shift amounts as being associated with each other in the recording medium as auxiliary information of the stereoscopic panorama image.

A computer-readable recording medium causing, when the instruction is read by a processor and executed, the processor to achieve:

• a stereoscopic panorama image obtaining step of obtaining a stereoscopic panorama image formed of left and right panorama images;
• a corresponding point detecting step of detecting, prior to reproduction of the obtained stereoscopic panorama image, a plurality of corresponding points for parallax adjustment in the stereoscopic panorama image, the corresponding points having features matched between the left and right panorama images;
• an image shift amount calculating step of calculating image shift amounts for setting parallaxes of the detected plurality of corresponding points each at a predetermined parallax amount;
• a storing step of storing position information of the plurality of corresponding points for parallax adjustment on the stereoscopic panorama image and the calculated plurality of image shift amounts as being associated with each other;
• a reproducing step of causing the obtained stereoscopic panorama image to be magnified with a predetermined magnification and causing the magnified stereoscopic panorama image to be reproduced by scrolling on a stereoscopic display or reproduced by frame advance for each of a plurality of frames obtained by dividing the stereoscopic panorama image, automatically or with a manual instruction input;
• and
• a parallax adjusting step of selecting one image shift amount from among a plurality of image shift amounts stored in the storing step correspondingly to the stereoscopic panorama image, the image shift amount corresponding to a stereoscopic image in a screen of the stereoscopic display, and performing parallax adjustment of the stereoscopic image based on the selected image shift amount, when the stereoscopic panorama image is reproduced by scrolling or frame advance in the reproducing step.