Cross-level image blending

A method for facilitating image transitions, comprising:

• subsampling a second image, having a second image type and a second level of detail, to generate a subsampled image, the subsampled image having a subsampled size corresponding to a size of a first image having a first image type and a first level of detail;
• determining a color distance metric between the subsampled image and the first image;
• determining a structure similarity metric between the subsampled image and the first image;
• generating a transition blending metric based upon the color distance metric and the structure similarity metric;
• and
• sorting a set of images based upon the transition blending metric to generate a sorted set of images ordered from smooth transitions to abrupt transitions between displaying the first image and displaying the second image.

A system for image blending, comprising:

• an image blending component configured to:
• generate an intermediate blended image between a first image, having a first image type and a first level of detail, and a second image having a second image type and a second level of detail, the intermediate blended image having an intermediate level of detail between the first level of detail and the second level of detail, comprising:
• performing structure transfer upon the first image to generate a new image;
• downsampling the second image to generate a downsampled image having a downsampled size corresponding to a size of the new image;
• computing a color difference between the new image and the downsampled image;
• upsampling the color difference to generate an upsampled color difference;
• and
• blending a gradient image using an interpolation weight and the upsampled color difference to generate the intermediate blended image;
• and
• an image visualization component configured to:
• display the intermediate blended image through a visualization during a transition between display of the first image and display of the second image.