Real-time capture and transformation of hemispherical video images to images in rectilinear coordinates

A method of generating a reusable look-up table for transforming input images from a hemispherical source to output images in rectilinear coordinates, the method of comprising:

• receiving data representative of a first input image into a processor, the data originating from a hemispherical camera, and having a size defined by an input image height and an input image width;
• determining, using the processor, a position within the look-up table for the input image pixels, wherein the position within the look-up table represents an output row and column;
• and
• calculating, using the processor, an inverse mapping for each input image pixel by determining a location of pixels within the input image, wherein the location is defined by a column and a row, the reusable look-up table being reusable to transform the first input image and additional input images having defined input image sizes without reference to the optical characteristics of the hemispherical source.

A method of transforming an input image from a hemispherical source to an output image in rectilinear coordinates using a reusable look-up table, wherein the input image from the hemispherical source is represented by a size and contains a number of pixels and the rectilinear output image is represented by a size calculated based on the input image size, the method comprising:

• determining a location within the output image to transfer each input image pixel, wherein the output image location is represented by a column and a row;
• determining an input image pixel associated with the output image location based on the row and column of the output image location using the reusable look-up table, the look-up table including input image pixel data locations;
• and
• transferring the associated input image pixel to the output image location, the reusable look-up table being created based upon image data from a prior hemispherical image, and configured to be used to transform additional input images having defined input image sizes without reference to the optical characteristics of the hemispherical source.

A computer program product for use on a computer system for transforming an input image from a hemispherical source to an output image in rectilinear coordinates, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable code thereon, the computer readable program code comprising:

• computer code for receiving data representative of an input image from a hemispherical camera, and having a size defined by an input image height and input image width;
• computer code for calculating an output image width and an output image height representative of a size of a rectilinear output image based on the size of the input image;
• computer code for generating a look-up table containing designated locations of the pixels located within the input image and corresponding locations within the output image, wherein the computer code for generating the look-up table includes:
• computer code for calculating an inverse mapping for each input image pixel by determining a location of each input image pixel wherein the input image pixel location is represented by a column and a row,
• computer code for calculating a look-up table index for each input image pixel, the look-up table index containing an association of a column and row within the output image with an input image pixel,
• computer code for adjusting the look-up table index column for each input image pixel such that the look-up table index column is equal to that input image pixel's column, and
• computer code adjusting the look-up table index row for each input image pixel such that the look-up table index row is equal to that input image pixel's row;
• and
• computer code for generating a rectilinear output image by mapping pixels to locations within the width and height of the output image based upon the input image data, using the look-up table, and without reference to the optical characteristics of the hemispherical camera.

A computer program product for use on a computer system for generating a reusable look-up table for transforming input images from a hemispherical source to output images in rectilinear coordinates, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable code thereon, the computer readable program code comprising:

• computer code for receiving data representative of a first input image originating from a hemispherical camera, and having a size defined by an input image height and an input image width;
• computer code for determining a position within the look-up table for the input image pixels, wherein the position within the look-up table represents an output row and column;
• and
• computer code for calculating an inverse mapping for each input image pixel by determining a location of pixels within the input image, wherein the location is defined by a column and a row, the reusable look-up table being created based upon image data from a prior hemispherical image, and configured to be used to transform additional input images having defined input image sizes without reference to the optical characteristics of the hemispherical source.

A computer program product for use on a computer system for transforming an input image from a hemispherical source to an output image in rectilinear coordinates using a reusable look-up table, wherein the hemispherical input image is represented by a size and contains a number of pixels and the rectilinear output image is represented by a size calculated based on the input image size, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable code thereon, the computer readable program code comprising:

• computer code for determining a location within the output image to transfer each input image pixel, wherein the output image location is represented by a column and a row;
• computer code for determining an input image pixel associated with the output image location based on the row and column of the output image location using the reusable look-up table, the look-up table including input image pixel data locations;
• and
• computer code for transferring the associated input image pixel to the output image location, the reusable look-up table being created based upon image data from a prior hemispherical image, and configured to be used to transform additional input images having defined input image sizes without reference to the optical characteristics of the hemispherical source.

A method of transforming an input image from a hemispherical source to an output image in rectilinear coordinates, the method comprising:

• receiving data representative of an input image into a processor, the data originating from a hemispherical camera, wherein the data is arranged as a number of pixels defining a size including a height and a width;
• calculating, using the processor, a width and height representative of a size of a rectilinear output image based on the size of the input image;
• generating a look-up table containing designated locations of the input image pixels and corresponding locations within the output image, wherein generating the look-up table includes:
• calculating an inverse mapping for each input image pixel by determining a location of each input image pixel wherein the input image pixel location is represented by a column and a row,
• calculating a look-up table index for each input image pixel, the look-up table index containing an association of a column and row within the output image with an input image pixel, and
• adjusting the look-up table index column for each input image pixel such that the look-up table index column is equal to that input image pixel's column;
• and adjusting the look-up table index row for each input image pixel such that the look-up table index row is equal to that input image pixel's row;
• and
• generating, using the processor, a rectilinear output image by mapping input image pixels to a location within the width and height of the output image based upon the input image data, the look-up table, and without reference to the optical characteristics of the camera.

A computer program product for use on a computer system for transforming an input image from a hemispherical source to an output image in rectilinear coordinates, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable code thereon, the computer readable program code comprising:

• computer code for receiving data representative of an input image originating from a hemispherical camera, wherein the data is arranged as a number of pixels defining a size including a height and a width;
• computer code for calculating a width and height representative of a size of a rectilinear output image based on the size of the input image;
• computer code for generating a look-up table containing designated locations of the input image pixels and corresponding locations within the output image, wherein the computer code for generating the look-up table includes:
• computer code for calculating an inverse mapping for each input image pixel by determining a location of each input image pixel, wherein the input image pixel location is represented by a column and a row,
• computer code for calculating a look-up table index for each input image pixel, the look-up table index containing an association of a column and row within the output image with an input image pixel,
• computer code for adjusting the look-up table index column for each input image pixel such that the look-up table index column is equal to that input image pixel's column, and
• computer code for adjusting the look-up table index row for each input image pixel such that the look-up table index row is equal to that input image pixel's row;
• and
• computer code for generating a rectilinear output image by mapping input image pixels to a location within the width and height of the output image based upon the input image data, the look-up table, and without reference to the optical characteristics of the camera.