Robust fast panorama stitching in mobile phones or cameras

A mobile device for internally generating a panorama image of a scene, comprising:

• an image capture device that is arranged to capture a plurality of images;
• a first circuit that is arranged to accelerate a projection of each captured image into cylindrical coordinates;
• a second circuit that is arranged to accelerate determining a plurality of motion vectors for each overlap region between each captured image, wherein correspondences between consecutive images are based at least in part on the determined motion vectors;
• and
• a processor that is configured to enable actions, including:
• based on said correspondences, determining pair-wise transformations to precisely align each pair of images and a global transformation to fit all images into a single rectangular panoramic image;
• warping each image into the panorama image, based on said transformation;
• and
• stitching each pair warped images together along a determined stitch line between each corresponding pair of consecutive warped images to minimize visual artifacts, wherein the determined stitch line corresponds to a selected path of least energy that crosses an overlap region between the corresponding pair of consecutive warped images.

An article of manufacture including a processor-readable non-transitive storage medium having processor-executable code encoded therein, which when executed by one or more processor devices, enables actions for internally generating a panorama image of a scene on a mobile device, comprising:

• capturing a plurality of images, wherein a first circuit is employed to accelerate a projection of each captured image into cylindrical coordinates;
• employing a second circuit to accelerate determining a plurality of motion vectors for each overlap region between each captured image, wherein correspondences between consecutive images are based at least in part on the determined motion vectors;
• based on said correspondences, determining pair-wise transformations to precisely align each pair of images and a global transformation to fit all images into a single rectangular panoramic image;
• warping each imago into the panorama image, based on said transformation;
• and
• stitching each pair of consecutive warped images together along a determined stitch line between each corresponding pair of consecutive warped images to minimize visual artifacts, wherein the determined stitch line corresponds to a selected path of least energy that crosses an overlap region between the corresponding pair of consecutive warped images.