Whiteboard view camera

A process of capturing images of a whiteboard, comprising the following process actions:

• positioning a single view camera above a whiteboard at the end of a boom so as to capture images of a desired portion of the whiteboard;
• adjusting the single view camera such that the tilt angle of the lens with respect to the sensor plane of the camera is zero before capturing said images to provide uniform resolution in-focus images of said whiteboard, wherein adjusting the single view camera comprises,
• computing the focal length that will provide said uniform resolution and in-focus images of the whiteboard, wherein computing the focal length comprises:
• inputting the whiteboard width, whiteboard height, the height of the whiteboard as imaged by the single view camera Hwb, the horizontal distance D between the whiteboard and the center of projection of the single view camera (C), the height of the image sensor Hs, and vertical distance between C and the top of the whiteboard Hc;
• setting a tilt angle α of the image sensor with the vertical axis to be approximately parallel with respect to the plane of the whiteboard;
• and
• computing the focal length as
• f=Hscsc(θ)sin(90+α−θ−tan−1(Hc/D))
• wherein
• θ=90−(tan−1(Hc/D)+tan−1(D/(Hwb+Hc)));
• and
• automatically setting the single view camera's focal length to the computed focal length.

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for viewing or recording images of a whiteboard using a view camera positioned to have a view of a whiteboard and adjusted such that the tilt angle of the lens with respect to the sensor plane of the camera is zero so as to capture an in focus, uniform resolution image of the whiteboard, said computer executable instructions comprising:

• inputting the parameters of the whiteboard comprising whiteboard width, whiteboard height, the height of the whiteboard as imaged by the camera, the horizontal distance between the whiteboard and the center of projection of the camera, the height of the image sensor, and vertical distance between the center of projection of the camera and the top of the whiteboard;
• and
• setting a tilt angle of the image sensor with the vertical axis to be approximately parallel with respect to the plane of the whiteboard;
• computing the focal length of the camera using the input parameters of the whiteboard and the set tilt angle so as to capture an in focus, uniform resolution image of the whiteboard.

A process of capturing images of a whiteboard from multiple vantage points, comprising the following process actions:

• positioning more than one single view camera above a whiteboard and at a fixed distance from a whiteboard so as to view the whiteboard;
• and
• adjusting each of said single view cameras so that the tilt angle of the lens with respect to the sensor plane of the single view camera is zero in order to capture a uniform resolution, in-focus images of said entire whiteboard, wherein adjusting each of said single view cameras further comprises for each single view camera:
• inputting the parameters of the whiteboard comprising whiteboard width, whiteboard height, the height of the whiteboard as imaged by the single view camera, the horizontal distance between the whiteboard and the center of projection of the single view camera, the height of the image sensor, and vertical distance between the center of projection of the single view camera and the top of the whiteboard;
• and
• setting a tilt angle of the image sensor with the vertical axis to be approximately parallel with respect to the plane of the whiteboard;
• computing the focal length of the camera using the input parameters of the whiteboard and the set tilt angle so as to capture an in focus, uniform resolution image of the whiteboard.

A camera system for capturing images of a whiteboard comprising:

• a single view camera positioned on the end of a boom mounted above a whiteboard and adjusted such that the tilt angle of the lens with respect to the sensor plane of the camera is zero so as to capture an in-focus uniform resolution image of a whiteboard, wherein the in focus uniform resolution image of said entire whiteboard is captured by,
• inputting the parameters of the whiteboard comprising whiteboard width, whiteboard height, the height of the whiteboard as imaged by the camera, the horizontal distance between the whiteboard and the center of projection of the single view camera, the height of the image sensor, and vertical distance between the center of projection of the single view camera and the to of the whiteboard;
• and
• setting a tilt angle of the image sensor with the vertical axis to be approximately parallel with respect to the plane of the whiteboard;
• computing the focal length of the single view camera using the input parameters of the whiteboard and the set tilt angle so as to capture an in focus, uniform resolution image of the whiteboard.