System and method of generating panoramic virtual reality image using a plurality of photograph images

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11115639-B2
Application number	US-201816198562-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 21, 2018
Priority date	Nov 23, 2017
Publication date	Sep 7, 2021
Grant date	Sep 7, 2021

Abstract

The described technology provides a system and method of generating a 360-degree panoramic virtual reality (VR) image by using a plurality of photograph images. A plurality of image capturing devices capture and transmit the plurality of photograph images, respectively. An image conversion device receives the plurality of photograph images from the plurality of image capturing devices, calibrates each of the plurality of photograph images using characteristic information of respective one of the plurality of image capturing devices, and stitches calibrated photograph images to generate the 360-degree panoramic VR image. According to embodiments, the user can check a situation of a monitoring area while changing the viewpoint of the 360-degree panoramic VR image or enjoy the generated VR contents at a high degree of immersion.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for generating a 360-degree panoramic virtual reality (VR) image using a plurality of photograph images, comprising:
a plurality of image capturing devices configured to capture and transmit the plurality of photograph images, respectively; and
an image conversion device in communication with plurality of image capturing devices,
wherein the plurality of image capturing devices comprise a first camera and a second camera, wherein the first camera is configured to take a first image using first image characteristic information, wherein the second camera is configured to take a second image using second image characteristic information that is different from the first image characteristic information such that the first and second images have different image attributes, wherein each of the first image characteristic information and the second image characteristic information comprises a viewing angle, a zooming ratio, and a resolution, and wherein the image conversion device is configured to:
receive the first image from the first camera and receive the second image from the second camera;
prior to receiving the first image and the second image store the first image characteristic information and the second image characteristic information in a local memory of the image conversion device;
retrieve the first image characteristic information and the second image characteristic information from the local memory of the image conversion device;
calibrate the first image using both the retrieved first image characteristic information and the retrieved second image characteristic information to obtain a first calibrated image without communicating with the first camera;
calibrate the second image using both the retrieved first image characteristic information and the retrieved second image characteristic information to obtain a second calibrated image without communicating with the second camera; and
stitch the first calibrated image and the second calibrated image to generate a single 360-degree panoramic VR image configured to be viewed from all directions.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of photograph images are formatted in RGB arrays.

3. A method of generating a 360-degree panoramic virtual reality (VR) image using a plurality of photograph images, comprising:
capturing the plurality of photograph images by a plurality of image capturing devices, wherein the plurality of image capturing devices comprise a first camera and a second camera, wherein the first camera is configured to take a first image using first image characteristic information, wherein the second camera is configured to take a second image using second image characteristic information that is different from the first image characteristic information such that the first and second images have different image attributes, and wherein each of the first image characteristic information and the second image characteristic information comprises a viewing angle, a zooming ratio, and a resolution;
receiving, by an image conversion device, the first image from the first camera and receive the second image from the second camera;
prior to receiving the first image and the second image, storing the first image characteristic information and the second image characteristic information in a local memory of the image conversion device;
retrieving the first image characteristic information and the second image characteristic information from the local memory of the image conversion device;
calibrating the first image using both the retrieved first image characteristic information and the retrieved second image characteristic information to obtain a first calibrated image without communicating with the first camera;
calibrating the second image using both the retrieved first image characteristic information and the retrieved second image characteristic information to obtain a second calibrated image without communicating with the second camera; and
generating the 360-degree panoramic VR image by stitching the first calibrated image and the second calibrated image.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the plurality of photograph images are formatted in RGB arrays.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each of the first image characteristic information and the second image characteristic information further comprises a brightness.

6. The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein each of the first image characteristic information and the second image characteristic information further comprises a brightness.

Assignees

• Korea Electronics Technology

Inventors

• Park Woochool
• Jang Junhwan
• Kim Younghwa
• Yang Jinwook
• Yoon Sangpil
• Kim Hyunwook
• Cho Eunkyung
• Choi Minsu
• Lee Junsuk
• Yang Jaeyoung

Classifications

• H04N23/698

  for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture · CPC title

• H04N23/90

  Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums · CPC title

• G06T3/4038

  Image mosaicing, e.g. composing plane images from plane sub-images · CPC title

• H04N13/257

  Colour aspects · CPC title

• H04N13/133 Primary

  Equalising the characteristics of different image components, e.g. their average brightness or colour balance · CPC title