Image processing apparatus and method, computer program product, and stereoscopic image display apparatus

An image processing method, comprising:

• acquiring a first image of an object captured in a first imaged direction and a second image of the object captured in a second imaging direction different from the first imaging direction;
• calculating, for each of a plurality of pixels included in the respective first and second images, likelihood of whether the pixel is included in a region of the object on the basis of feature information indicating image feature;
• calculating, on the basis of the likelihood, a degree of similarity between a region of interest in the first image and a candidate region in the second image, the candidate region being a candidate of a corresponding region corresponding to the region of interest in the first image;
• and
• selecting the candidate region serving as the corresponding region on the basis of the degree of similarity.

A computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium containing an image processing program that causes a computer to perform:

• acquiring a first image of an object captured in a first imaged direction and a second image of the object captured in a second imaging direction different from the first imaging direction;
• calculating, for each of a plurality of pixels included in the respective first and second images, likelihood of whether the pixel is included in a region of the object on the basis of feature information indicating image feature;
• calculating, on the basis of the likelihood, a degree of similarity between a region of interest in the first image and a candidate region in the second image, the candidate region being a candidate of a corresponding region corresponding to the region of interest in the first image;
• and
• selecting the candidate region serving as the corresponding region on the basis of the degree of similarity.

A stereoscopic image display apparatus, comprising:

• a display that displays a stereoscopic image including a plurality of parallax images;
• a first acquirer that acquires a first image of an object captured in a first imaging direction and a second image of the object captured in a second imaging direction different from the first imaging direction;
• a first calculator that calculates, for each of a plurality of pixels included in the respective first and second images, likelihood of whether the pixel is included in a region of the object on the basis of feature information indicating image feature;
• a second calculator that calculates, on the basis of the likelihood, a degree of similarity between a region of interest in the first image and a candidate region in the second image, the candidate region being a candidate of a corresponding region corresponding to the region of interest in the first image;
• a selector that selects the candidate region serving as the corresponding region on the basis of the degree of similarity;
• a third calculator that calculates a three-dimensional position of the region of interest on the basis of a difference in position between the region of interest and the corresponding region;
• a setter that sets parameters including at least an imaging angle of an imaging device that captures the object;
• a generator that produces an intermediate image of the object captured in an intermediate imaging direction different from the first imaging direction and the second imaging direction on the basis of the three-dimensional position and the parameters;
• and
• a display controller that performs control to display the stereoscopic image including the first image, the second image, and the intermediate image on the display.