Communication terminal, communication system, display method, and non-transitory recording medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12477075-B2
Application number	US-202418604539-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 14, 2024
Priority date	Mar 22, 2023
Publication date	Nov 18, 2025
Grant date	Nov 18, 2025

Abstract

A communication terminal includes circuitry that: stores first position information of an image capturing apparatus in a memory, the first position information indicating a position of the image capturing apparatus when installed in a first time period; receives a wide-view image captured by the image capturing apparatus in a second time period and second position information of the image capturing apparatus via a network, the second position information indicating a position of the image capturing apparatus when installed in the second time period; corrects the wide-view image captured in the second time period, based on a difference between the first position information and the second position information; and causes a display to display the corrected wide-view image.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A communication terminal, comprising:
circuitry configured to:
store first position information of an image capturing apparatus in a memory, the first position information indicating a first position of the image capturing apparatus when installed in a first time period;
receive a wide-view image captured by the image capturing apparatus in a second time period and second position information of the image capturing apparatus via a network, the second position information indicating a second position of the image capturing apparatus when installed in the second time period;
determine, based on a difference between the first position information and the second position information, whether an imaging range of the wide-view image captured in the second time period is included in an imaging range of a wide-view image captured at the first position in the first time period; and
in a case that the circuitry determines that the imaging range of the wide-view image captured in the second time period is included in the imaging range of the wide-view image captured in the first time period:
correct the wide-view image captured in the second time period based on the difference between the first position and the second position; and
display the corrected wide-view image on a display.

2 . The communication terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to correct the wide-view image captured in the second time period into a wide-view image captured with the first position information, based on the difference between the first position information and the second position information.

3 . The communication terminal according to claim 1 , wherein
the circuitry is configured to store the first position information in the memory in association with point-of-view information indicating a point of view of the wide-view image captured in the first time period, and the corrected wide-view image has a point of view based on the point-of-view information of the wide-view image captured in the first time period.

4 . The communication terminal according to claim 2 , wherein
the difference between the first position information and the second position information is based on a rotation of the image capturing apparatus about a vertical axis of the image capturing apparatus, and the circuitry is configured to horizontally move the wide-view image captured in the second time period by an amount corresponding to an angle by which the rotation occurs, the wide-view image being an equirectangular projection image.

5 . The communication terminal according to claim 2 , wherein the circuitry is configured to:
convert the wide-view image captured in the second time period from an equirectangular projection image to a unit sphere; rotate the unit sphere based on the difference between the first position information and the second position information to obtain a rotated unit sphere; and convert the rotated unit sphere back to the equirectangular projection image to correct the wide-view image captured in the second time period into the wide-view image captured with the first position information.

6 . The communication terminal according to claim 3 , wherein the circuitry is configured to store the first position information and the point-of-view information in the memory in a case that the first position information transmitted from the image capturing apparatus changes.

7 . The communication terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the first time period and the second time period include two consecutive days, the second time period including one day of the two consecutive days, the first time period including a preceding day of the one day.

8 . The communication terminal according to claim 1 , wherein
the first position information is first orientation information indicating an orientation of the image capturing apparatus when installed in the first time period, and the second position information is second orientation information indicating an orientation of the image capturing apparatus when installed in the second time period.

9 . The communication terminal according to claim 8 , wherein the first orientation information includes at least one of a roll angle, a pitch angle, or a yaw angle of the image capturing apparatus.

10 . The communication terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the second time period does not overlap the first time period.

11 . The communication terminal according to claim 1 , wherein in a case that the circuitry determines that the imaging range of the wide-view image captured in the second time period is not included in the imaging range of the wide-view image captured in the first time period, the circuitry is further configured to display the wide-view image on the display.

12 . A communication system, comprising:
an image capturing apparatus; a memory that stores first position information of the image capturing apparatus, the first position information indicating a first position of the image capturing apparatus when installed in a first time period; and circuitry configured to:
receive a wide-view image captured by the image capturing apparatus in a second time period and second position information of the image capturing apparatus via a network, the second position information indicating a second position of the image capturing apparatus when installed in the second time period;
determine, based on a difference between the first position information and the second position information, whether an imaging range of the wide-view image captured in the second time period is included in an imaging range of a wide-view image captured at the first position in the first time period; and
in a case that the circuitry determines that the imaging range of the wide-view image captured in the second time period is included in the imaging range of the wide-view image captured in the first time period:
correct the wide-view image captured in the second time period based on the difference between the first position and the second position; and
display the corrected wide-view image on a display.

13 . A display method, comprising:
storing first position information of an image capturing apparatus in a memory, the first position information indicating a first position of the image capturing apparatus when installed in a first time period; receiving a wide-view image captured by the image capturing apparatus in a second time period and second position information of the image capturing apparatus via a network, the second position information indicating a second position of the image capturing apparatus when installed in the second time period; determining, based on a difference between the first position information and the second position information, whether an imaging range of the wide-view image captured in the second time period is included in an imaging range of a wide-view image captured at the first position in the first time period; and in a case that the determining indicates that the imaging range of the wide-view image captured in the second time period is included in the imaging range of the wide-view image captured in the first time period:
correcting the wide-view image captured in the second time period based on the difference between the first position and the second position; and
displaying the corrected wide-view image on a display.

14 . A non-transitory recording medium storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the processors to perform a display method comprising:
storing firs

Assignees

• Hasegawa Takashi
• Horiuchi Takeshi
• Homma Takeshi
• Hinohara Hiroshi
• Ricoh Co Ltd

Inventors

• Hasegawa Takashi
• Horiuchi Takeshi
• Homma Takeshi
• Hinohara Hiroshi

Classifications

• G06T3/12 Primary

  Panospheric to cylindrical image transformations · CPC title

• G06T3/60

  Rotation of whole images or parts thereof · CPC title

• H04N23/661

  Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet · CPC title

• H04N23/698

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

• H04N5/2628 Primary

  Alteration of picture size, shape, position or orientation, e.g. zooming, rotation, rolling, perspective, translation · CPC title