Method and processor for stereo cylindrical imaging

A computerized stereoscopic imaging method comprising:

• configuring a cylindrical screen into N sub-screens, each sub-screen comprising M planar strips axially extending along a corresponding sub-screen;
• positioning at each end point of a reference line a respective computer-synthesized camera, each providing a respective field view for each imaging channel;
• rendering M increments of imaging data for each imaging channel, each increment of imaging data uniquely corresponding to a respective strip on each sub-screen;
• and
• combining each of the M increments of imaging data for each of the N sub-screens to seamlessly form cylindrical imaging data to be projected on the cylindrical screen, wherein M and N represent respective positive integer numbers.

A computerized stereoscopic imaging method comprising:

• configuring a cylindrical screen into N sub-screens, each sub-screen comprising M planar strips axially extending along a corresponding sub-screen;
• rendering M increments of imaging data for each imaging channel, each increment of imaging data uniquely corresponding to a respective strip on each sub-screen;
• re-rendering imaging data originally rendered for each imaging channel, said re-rendering performed relative to a computer-synthesized cylinder configured as the cylindrical screen, and texture-mapping the originally rendered sub-screen imaging data to generate new sub-screen imaging data substantially free of distortion;
• and
• combining each of the M increments of imaging data for each of the N sub-screens to seamlessly form cylindrical imaging data to be projected on the cylindrical screen, wherein M and N represent respective positive integer numbers.

A stereoscopic cylindrical screen imaging method comprising:

• a) gathering en externally-derived three-dimensional scene model;
• b) selecting a plurality of processing parameters selected from the group consisting of angular span of the cylindrical screen, a number of sub-screens for the cylindrical screen, and a number of axially-extending planar strips for each sub-screen;
• c) providing a pair of computer-synthesized cameras at the respective end points of a reference line, with each camera providing a respective view of the three-dimensional model for each imaging channel;
• d) positioning the mid-point of the reference line to substantially correspond with the center of the cylinder;
• e) aligning the reference line to be generally parallel relative to the plane defined by a first strip of the sub-screen;
• f) generating a stereoscopic increment of imaging data for the first strip of the sub-screen;
• g) rotating the reference line together with the camera pair about the center of the cylinder to be in general parallel alignment relative to the plane defined by the next strip of the sub-screen;
• h) generating a stereoscopic increment of imaging data for said next strip of the sub-screen;
• i) iteratively continuing with steps g) and h) until imaging data has been rendered for each strip in each of the sub-screens;
• j) combining each incremental imaging data to generatel imaging data for each sub-screen;
• and
• k) storing each sub-screen imaging data for additional processing.

A processor for stereoscopically and seamlessly imaging on a generally cylindrical screen, the processor comprising:

• a module for configuring imaging data for a plurality of selectable sub-screens encompassing the cylindrical screen, each sub-screen comprising a plurality of selectable strips axially extending relative to a corresponding sub-screen in the cylindrical screen;
• a rendering-module for rendering two channels of imaging data increments for each strip based on a parallax model with a reference line selectively rotatable to be in parallel alignment relative to each respective plane defined by each strip;
• a rectifier module configured to rectify the imaging data for each corresponding sub-screen by re-rendering said imaging data relative to a computer-synthesized cylinder configured as the cylindrical screen, and texture-mapping the originally rendered sub-screen imaging data on the computer-synthesized cylinder to generate new sub-screen imaging data substantially free of distortion;
• and
• a combining-module for combining each imaging data increment corresponding to each strip in a respective sub-screen to generate stereoscopic imaging data for that respective sub-screen, the combining module further for combining each sub-screen imaging data to generate stereoscopic Imaging data substantially encompassing the angular span of the cylindrical screen.

A computer-readable medium including instructions for causing a computer to process stereoscopic seamless imaging data for a cylindrical screen by:

• arranging cylindrical screen into N sub-screens each sub-screen comprising M planar strips axially extending along a corresponding sub-screen;
• positioning at each end point of a reference line a respective computer-synthesized camera, each providing a respective field view for each Imaging channel;
• rendering M increments of imaging data for each imaging channel each increment of imaging data uniquely corresponding to a respective strip on each sub-screen;
• and
• combining each of the M increments of imaging data for each of the N sub-screens to seamlessly form cylindrical imaging data to be projected on the cylindrical screen, wherein M and N represent respective positive integer numbers.

A computer-readable medium including instructions for causing a computer to process stereoscopic seamless imaging data for a cylindrical screen by:

• arranging a cylindrical screen into N sub-screens, each sub-screen comprising M planar strips axially extending along a corresponding sub-screen;
• rendering M increments of imaging data for each imaging channel, each increment of imaging data uniquely corresponding to a respective strip on each sub-screen:
• re-rendering imaging data originally rendered for each imaging channel, said re-rendering performed relative to a computer-synthesized cylinder configured as the cylindrical screen, and texture-mapping the originally rendered sub-screen imaging data to generate new sub-screen imaging data substantially free of distortion;
• and
• combining each of the M increments of imaging data for each of the N sub-screens to seamlessly form cylindrical imaging data to be projected on the cylindrical screen, wherein M and N represent respective positive integer numbers.

A computerized stereoscopic imaging method comprising:

• configuring a cylindrical screen into N sub-screens, each sub-screen comprising M planar strips axially extending along a corresponding sub-screen;
• rendering M increments of imaging data for each imaging channel, each increment of imaging data uniquely corresponding to a respective strip on each sub-screen;
• re-rendering imaging data originally rendered for each imaging channel, said re-rendering performed relative to a computer-synthesized cylinder configured as the cylindrical screen, and texture-mapping the originally rendered sub-screen imaging data to generate new sub-screen imaging data substantially free of distortion;
• blending imaging data between adjacent sub-screens by applying, during an imaging-production stage, a predefined attenuation function over an area selected for overlapping between any two adjacent sub-screens, and, during a playback stage, overlapping the two adjacent sub-screens over the selected area so that pixels in that area are selectively attenuated based on attenuation values determined by the applied attenuation function;
• and
• combining each of the M increments of imaging data for each of the N sub-screens to seamlessly form cylindrical imaging data to be projected on the cylindrical screen, wherein M and N represent respective positive integer numbers.

A computer-readable medium including instructions far causing a computer to process stereoscopic seamless imaging data for a cylindrical screen by:

• arranging a cylindrical screen into N sub-screens, each sub-screen comprising M planar strips axially extending along a corresponding sub-screen;
• positioning at each end point of a reference line a respective computer-synthesized camera, each providing a respective field view far each imaging channel;
• rendering M increments of imaging data for each imaging channel, each increment of imaging data uniquely corresponding to a respective strip on each sub-screen;
• blending imaging data between adjacent sub-screens by applying, during an imaging-production stage, a predefined attenuation function over an area selected for overlapping between any two adjacent sub-screens, and, during a playback stage, overlapping the two adjacent sub-screens over the selected area so that pixels in that area are selectively attenuated based on attenuation values determined by the applied attenuation function;
• and
• combining each of the M increments of imaging data for each of the N sub-screens to seamlessly form cylindrical imaging data to be projected on the cylindrical screen, wherein M and N represent respective positive integer numbers.