Capturing image of spherical site

Abstract

Systems, methods, and devices disclosed herein may include an exemplary image capture system for capturing light related to an image within its field of view and / or an exemplary image projection system for transforming an image to project onto a three-dimensional media plane of a three-dimensional venue. An example image capture system may direct light captured by the example image capture system onto an image sensor associated with the example image capture system. As would be further described below, an exemplary image capture system may focus these rays toward a periphery or edge of an image sensor. Thus, the three-dimensional venue may display the highest optical image quality toward the bottom or bounce of the three-dimensional media plane. In addition, the exemplary image capture system may be specially manufactured to distribute light captured by the exemplary image capture system heterogeneously (e.g., non-uniformly) onto the image sensor to further enhance the highest optical image quality of the image. As would be further described in detail below, an exemplary image projection system may project an image onto a three-dimensional media plane of a three-dimensional venue. As part of such projection, an example image projection system may mathematically transform two-dimensional coordinates of pixels of an image onto three-dimensional coordinates of a three-dimensional media plane to project the image onto the three-dimensional media plane. And as part of such projection, an exemplary image projection system may statistically interpolate color information in the image to be projected onto the three-dimensional media plane.

Description

[0001] Cross - Reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 18 / 332,855, filed on June 12, 2023, and U.S. Patent Application No. 18 / 332,874, filed on June 12, 2023, both of which claim the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 434,309, filed on December 21, 2022, and these applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Background Art

[0003] Content creators often use conventional ultra - wide - angle lenses (for example, such as conventional fish - eye lenses) to capture conventional images to be displayed on a conventional three - dimensional media plane. Conventional fish - eye lenses represent a class of ultra - wide - angle lenses that produce strong visual distortion, for example, a bulging non - linear appearance, which is designed to create one or more hemispherical images for display on a conventional three - dimensional media plane. The center of a conventional fish - eye lens can often be associated with a conventional main viewing section located at the top or crown of the conventional three - dimensional media plane. Typically, compared to other viewing sections of the conventional three - dimensional media plane, the conventional main viewing section can be characterized as having the highest optical image quality, for example, resolution. The optical image quality of one or more images captured by a conventional fish - eye lens and presented on the conventional three - dimensional media plane gradually decreases from the conventional main viewing section towards the bottom or bulge of the conventional three - dimensional media plane, where the optical image quality at the bottom of the conventional three - dimensional media plane is the lowest.

[0004] Content creators often capture conventional images to be displayed on a conventional three - dimensional media plane during an event. Typically, an event can be characterized as including one or more performers located towards the bottom of the conventional three - dimensional media plane. The conventional three - dimensional media plane often displays images when one or more performers are performing. Thus, a viewer experiencing an event within a conventional venue typically focuses their field of view on one or more performers towards the bottom of the conventional three - dimensional media plane. As a result, the viewer will view the images on the conventional three - dimensional media plane with the lowest optical image quality. The viewer is required to shift their field of view towards the conventional main viewing section at the top of the conventional three - dimensional media plane (i.e., look up) to experience images with the highest optical image quality, but this causes one or more performers to no longer be within their field of view. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0005] This disclosure is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals indicate exactly the same or functionally similar elements. Further, the left - most (one or more) digits of a reference numeral identify the drawing in which the reference numeral first appears. In the drawings:

[0006] Figure 1A andFigure 1B Illustrates a graphical representation of an exemplary venue in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0007] Figure 2A Illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary image capture system in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0008] Figure 2B Illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary operation of an exemplary camera system that may be implemented within the exemplary image capture system in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0009] Figure 3A and Figure 3B Illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary camera lens system that may be implemented within the exemplary camera system in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0010] Figure 4A and Figure 4B Illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary camera lens housing that may be implemented within the exemplary camera system in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0011] Figure 5A and Figure 5B Illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary camera system in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0012] Figure 6 Illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary image projection system in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0013] Figure 7 Illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary kernel-based sampling technique that may be implemented within the exemplary projection system in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0014] Figure 8 and Figure 9 Illustrates an exemplary kernel-based sampling technique that may be implemented within the exemplary projection system in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0015] Figure 10 Illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary computer system that may be implemented within the exemplary image capture system and / or the exemplary image projection system in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0016] The present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Detailed Description

[0017] Numerous different embodiments or examples are provided below for implementing different features of the provided subject matter. Specific examples of components and arrangements are described below to simplify the present disclosure. Of course, these are merely examples and not restrictive. When read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, various aspects of the present disclosure are better understood. The present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and / or letters in the various examples. This repetition itself does not dictate a relationship between the various embodiments and / or configurations discussed. Note that, according to standard practice in the industry, features are not drawn to scale. In fact, dimensions of features may be arbitrarily increased or decreased for clarity of discussion.

[0018] Overview

[0019] The systems, methods, and apparatuses disclosed herein may include an exemplary image capture system to capture light associated with one or more images within its field of view; and / or an exemplary image projection system to transform one or more images for projection onto a three-dimensional media plane of a three-dimensional venue. The exemplary image capture system may direct the light rays captured by the exemplary image capture system onto an image sensor associated with the exemplary image capture system. As will be described in further detail below, the exemplary image capture system may focus these light rays towards the periphery or edge of the image sensor. As a result, the three-dimensional venue may display the highest optical image quality of one or more images towards the bottom or pop-up portion of the three-dimensional media plane. Moreover, the exemplary image capture system may be specifically manufactured to heterogeneously (e.g., non-uniformly) distribute the light rays captured by the exemplary image capture system onto the image sensor to further enhance the highest optical image quality of one or more images. As will be described in further detail below, the exemplary image projection system may project one or more images onto the three-dimensional media plane of the three-dimensional venue. As part of such projection, the exemplary image projection system may mathematically transform the two-dimensional coordinates of the pixels of one or more images to three-dimensional coordinates of the three-dimensional media plane to project one or more images onto the three-dimensional media plane. And as part of such projection, the exemplary image projection system may perform statistical interpolation on the color information of one or more images to be projected onto the three-dimensional media plane.

[0020] Projecting an image onto an exemplary venue of the present disclosure

[0021] Figure 1A and Figure 1B illustrates a graphical representation of an exemplary venue in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In Figure 1A and Figure 1BIn the exemplary embodiments shown, venue 100 represents a location where an event is held. For example, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, venue 100 can represent a music venue (e.g., a music theater, a music club, and / or a concert hall), a sports venue (e.g., an arena, a convention center, and / or a stadium), and / or any other suitable venue, which will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, an event can include a music event, a theatrical event, a sports event, a movie, and / or any other suitable event, which will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art. In Figure 1A and Figure 1B In the exemplary embodiments shown, venue 100 can represent a three-dimensional structure for hosting an event, e.g., a hemispherical structure, also known as a hemispherical dome. In some embodiments, venue 100 can include a three-dimensional media plane 102 for displaying one or more images that can be associated with an event scattered across the interior or soffit of venue 100. In some embodiments, the three-dimensional media plane 102 can include a series of rows and a series of columns of picture elements in a three-dimensional space, also known as pixels. In these embodiments, by way of example, the pixels can be implemented using one or more light-emitting diode (LED) displays, one or more organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, and / or one or more quantum dot (QD) displays. For example, the three-dimensional media plane 102 can include a three-dimensional media plane with a resolution of approximately 16,000×16,000 in a three-dimensional space, which surrounds the interior of venue 100 to form a visual display of approximately 160,000 square feet.

[0022] In some embodiments, venue 100 can project one or more images onto the three-dimensional media plane 102. In these embodiments, one or more images can be projected onto the three-dimensional media plane 102 during an event to enhance the visual experience of the audience watching the event. As Figure 1AAs shown, the three-dimensional media plane 102 may include a viewer's primary viewing section 104 with the highest optical image quality located along the interior or soffit of the three-dimensional media plane 102. In some embodiments, the viewer's primary viewing section 104 may be approximately located at the waist of the three-dimensional media plane 102, which is approximately at the midpoint between the top and the base, where the approximate center of the viewer's primary viewing section 104 is represented as (R, Α, Θ) in spherical coordinates. Compared with other viewing sections of the three-dimensional media plane 102, the viewer's primary viewing section 104 may be characterized as having the highest optical image quality (e.g., resolution). In some embodiments, the optical image quality of one or more images projected onto the three-dimensional media plane 102 decreases from the highest optical image quality of the viewer's primary viewing section 104 along the interior of the three-dimensional media plane 102 towards another viewing section opposite the diameter of the viewer's primary viewing section 104. As will be described in further detail below, an exemplary image capture system may be used to capture one or more images that, when projected onto the three-dimensional media plane 102, have the highest optical image quality within the viewer's primary viewing section 104. And, as will be described in further detail below, an exemplary image projection system may be used to transform the two-dimensional coordinates of one or more images into the three-dimensional coordinates of the three-dimensional media plane to allow one or more images to be projected onto the three-dimensional media plane.

[0023] In some embodiments, the center of the conventional primary viewing section 112 as described above may be represented as (r, α, θ) in spherical coordinates. In these embodiments, the distance D between the center of the viewer's primary viewing section 104 and the center of the conventional primary viewing section 112 R may be expressed as:

[0024]

[0025] And the difference D in the polar angle between the viewer's primary viewing section 104 and the center of the conventional primary viewing section θ may be expressed as:

[0026] D θ = Θ - θ (2)

[0027] In some embodiments, the center of the conventional primary viewing section 112 may be considered to be offset by the difference D from the center of the viewer's primary viewing section 104 θ . For example, the difference D θ may be between approximately 30 degrees and approximately 90 degrees. In this example, the viewer's primary viewing section 104 may be considered to be offset from the conventional primary viewing section 112 by between approximately 30 degrees and approximately 90 degrees.

[0028] As Figure 1BAs shown, the venue 100 may include one or more seating sections for the audience to sit and experience an event. In some embodiments, the audience main viewing section 104 may be specifically designated by, for example, an image capture system 200 as will be described in further detail below, to allow one or more audience members 106 among the audience sitting in the venue 100 to view one or more images projected onto the three-dimensional media plane 102 with the highest optical image quality. In some embodiments, for example, one or more audience members 106 may include audience members from one or more rows of seats within the venue 100 and / or one or more seat sections within the venue 100. And as Figure 1B shown, the audience main viewing section 104 may be customized to coincide with the field of view 108 of the one or more audience members 106 when the one or more audience members 106 experience the event. As an example, the field of view 108 may correspond to the field of view of audience members in the main seating area (e.g., luxury box) within the venue 100. In some embodiments, it may be considered that one or more audience members 106 experience one or more images projected with the highest optical image quality. In some embodiments, as described above, the event may be characterized as having one or more performers located towards the bottom of the three-dimensional media plane 102. In these embodiments, the one or more performers may be located on a stage 110 positioned towards the bottom of the three-dimensional media plane 102. In these embodiments, the audience main viewing section 104 may be located behind the one or more performers to allow one or more audience members 106 to view the one or more performers and one or more images simultaneously with the highest optical image quality. In other words, when the one or more audience members 106 are viewing the one or more performers, the audience main viewing section 104 may be within the field of view 108 of the one or more audience members 106.

[0029] Exemplary image capture system for capturing an image

[0030] Figure 2A FIG. illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary image capture system according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In Figure 2A the exemplary embodiment shown, the image capture system 200 captures light related to one or more images that can be projected onto a three-dimensional media plane of a venue, such as the three-dimensional media plane 102 of the venue 100 as described above in Figure 1A and Figure 1B . As will be described in further detail below, the image capture system 200 can be used to capture within the audience main viewing section of the three-dimensional media plane, such as the Figure 1A and Figure 1Bone or more images within the viewer's subjective viewing section 104) that have the highest optical image quality when projected onto a three-dimensional media plane. As will be described in further detail below, the image capture system 200 can direct the light captured by the image capture system 200 onto an image sensor associated with the image capture system 200. As will be further described in detail below, the image capture system 200 can focus this light towards the periphery or edge of the image sensor. As a result, the three-dimensional venue can display the highest optical image quality for one or more images located within the viewer's subjective viewing section of the three-dimensional media that have the highest optical image quality. Moreover, the image capture system 200 can be specifically manufactured to heterogeneously (e.g., non-uniformly) distribute the light captured by the exemplary image capture system onto the image sensor to further enhance the highest optical image quality of one or more images. As Figure 2A shown, the image capture system 200 can include a camera system 202, and the camera system 202 has a camera lens system 204 and a camera component 206, and the camera component 206 can be communicatively coupled to an image recording system 208 via a communication network 210. Although the image capture system 200 is shown in Figure 2A as including a plurality of discrete devices, those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that one or more of these devices can be combined without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, for example, the camera system 202 can include the camera lens system 204, the camera component 206, and / or the image recording system 208 as a single discrete device without the communication network 210, which will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art.

[0031] In Figure 2A the exemplary embodiment shown, the camera lens system 204 projects light associated with one or more images (e.g., a scene) within its field of view onto an image sensor 212 of the camera component 206 that will be described in further detail below. In some embodiments, the camera lens system 204 can focus (e.g., converge) the light captured on the image sensor 212 to generate one or more images for projection onto the three-dimensional media plane of the venue. For example, the camera lens system 204 can focus the light reflected from one or more physical objects within a scene onto the image sensor 212 to generate one or more images of the one or more physical objects for projection onto the three-dimensional media plane of the venue. In Figure 2A the exemplary embodiment shown, the camera lens system 204 can include a camera lens housing and a camera lens system. In some embodiments, by way of example, the camera lens housing can be implemented to form a perspective control lens, such as a shift lens or a tilt-shift lens. Referring to the above Figure 1A and Figure 1B, the image capture system 200 can use a view angle control lens to focus (e.g., converge) the light captured by the image capture system 200 onto one or more sections of the image sensor 212 associated with the viewer's main viewing section of the three-dimensional media plane. In some embodiments, the view angle control lens can change the orientation or position of the camera lens system relative to the camera assembly 206, e.g., tilt, shift, and / or rotate, to specify one or more sections of the image sensor 212. For example, the view angle control lens can turn the center of the camera lens system (e.g., the center of an ultra-wide angle lens such as a fish-eye lens or a rectilinear lens) relative to the orientation or position of the image sensor 212. Generally speaking, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, as would be recognized by those skilled in the relevant art, an ultra-wide angle lens represents any suitable lens having a field of view between approximately one hundred (100) degrees and approximately one hundred eighty (180) degrees. In this example, the view angle control lens can turn the orientation or position of the center of the camera lens system towards the periphery (e.g., the edge) of the image sensor 212 to focus the light captured by the center of the camera lens system towards the periphery of the image sensor 212. In some embodiments, the periphery (e.g., the edge) of the image sensor 212 can be approximated as the outermost one-eighth to one-fourth of the surface area of the image sensor 212. Thus, when one or more images projected near the periphery of the image sensor 212 are projected onto the three-dimensional media plane, as Figure 1A and Figure 1B described, the highest optical image quality of the one or more images can be located internally along the three-dimensional media plane within the viewer's main viewing section.

[0032] In some embodiments, the camera lens system may include a single lens of a simple transparent material; however, as will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art, compound lenses of more complex transparent materials (such as doublets, triplets, and / or achromatic lenses) are also possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In these embodiments, the transparent material may include glass, crystal, and / or plastic (such as acrylic resin). In some embodiments, these complex compound lenses may be configured and arranged to form an ultra-wide-angle lens, such as a fisheye lens that produces a strong visual distortion designed to create one or more hemispherical images, and / or a rectilinear lens that produces one or more images in which straight features (such as the edges of a building wall) appear straight rather than curved as in a fisheye lens, with little or no barrel or pincushion distortion. In some embodiments, the ultra-wide-angle lens may be specifically manufactured to direct the light captured by the camera lens system to be heterogeneously (e.g., non-uniformly) distributed near the approximate center of the image sensor 212. In these embodiments, compared to a conventional ultra-wide-angle lens that projects light uniformly as described above, the angular distribution of the light can be characterized as non-uniform across the image sensor 212. For example, the camera lens system may focus the light onto the image sensor 212 such that it is more concentrated near the center of the image sensor 212 than at the periphery of the image sensor 212. In some embodiments, the camera lens system may concentrate the light near the center of the image sensor 212 to project more details of one or more images, for example, project more details of the scene near the center of the image sensor 212. Thus, when the camera lens system 204 includes a view angle control lens that heterogeneously distributes the light captured by the view angle control lens, compared to a camera lens system 204 that uses only a view angle control lens, the one or more images projected into the viewer's main viewing section include even more details and thus even higher resolution.

[0033] The camera assembly 206 captures the light focused onto the image sensor 212 by the camera lens system 204 to provide one or more digital image signals associated with the one or more images, also referred to as raw image data. In some embodiments, the camera assembly 206 may reconstruct one or more images from the one or more digital image signals. In Figure 2AIn the exemplary embodiments shown, the camera assembly 206 may include an image sensor 212 and a processor 214. Generally, the image sensor 212 converts light (i.e., photons) focused onto the image sensor 212 by the camera lens system 204 into an electrical signal. In some embodiments, the image sensor 212 may convert the electrical signal from a representation in the analog signal domain to a representation in the digital signal domain to provide one or more digital image signals stored by an image recording system 208 described further below in more detail. In some embodiments, the image sensor 212 may include small picture elements (also referred to as pixels), and the small image elements may include photosensitive elements, microlenses, and / or microelectrical components. In some embodiments, the pixels may be configured and arranged as a series of rows and a series of columns to form an array of pixels, e.g., a square array of pixels. In these embodiments, the image sensor 212 may include 18,000 rows of pixels and 18,000 columns of pixels to form a 18,000×18,000 square pixel array. In some embodiments, the image sensor 212 may be implemented as a charge-coupled device (CCD) or an active pixel sensor that may be fabricated using complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) and / or n-type metal oxide silicon (NMOS) technology. In these embodiments, the image sensor 212 may be implemented as a color sensor including a color mask (e.g., such as a Bayer mask) that absorbs unwanted color wavelengths such that each pixel of the image sensor 212 is sensitive to a specific color wavelength; and / or may be implemented as a monochrome sensor without a color mask such that each pixel of the image sensor 212 is sensitive to all visible light wavelengths. In these embodiments, for example, one or more digital image signals may include color information for each pixel of the image sensor 212, e.g., the luminance and / or chrominance components of the YUV color model, and / or the red, green, and / or blue components of the RGB color model.

[0034] The processor 214 may provide one or more digital image signals generated by the image sensor 212 to the image recording system 208. Alternatively or additionally, the processor 214 may reconstruct one or more images from the one or more digital image signals and then provide the one or more images to the image recording system 208. In these embodiments, the processor 214 may implement one or more digital image processing techniques, also referred to as digital picture processing techniques, to process the one or more digital image signals generated by the image sensor 212 in order to reconstruct the one or more images from the one or more digital image signals. In some embodiments, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, the one or more digital image processing techniques may include decoding, demosaicking, defective pixel removal, white balance, noise reduction, color conversion, tone reproduction, compression, removal of system noise, dark frame subtraction, optical correction, contrast manipulation, unsharp masking, and / or any other suitable well-known digital image processing techniques, which will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art. In some embodiments, the processor 214 may format the one or more digital image signals and / or the one or more images for transmission to the image recording system 208 via the communication network 210. In some embodiments, the processor 214 may compress the one or more digital image signals and / or the one or more images using, for example, lossless compression techniques such as Lempel-Ziv based lossless compression techniques and / or lossy compression techniques such as discrete cosine transform (DCT) based lossy compression techniques. In some embodiments, the processor 214 may include or be coupled to an electro-optical converter to transform the one or more digital image signals from electrical signals into optical signals for transmission via an optical fiber network.

[0035] The image recording system 208 may store the one or more digital image signals and / or the one or more images provided by the processor 214. As will be described in further detail below, the one or more digital image signals and / or the one or more images may be further processed by an image projection system for use in a manner as described above in Figure 1A and Figure 1BProjected onto the three-dimensional media plane of the venue plane in a substantially similar manner as described. In some embodiments, the image recording system 208 may store one or more digital image signals as raw camera image files having the radiometric characteristics of the light captured by the image capture system. For example, these radiometric characteristics may include color information for each pixel of the image sensor, such as the luminance and / or chrominance components of the YUV color model, and / or the red, green, and / or blue components of the RGB color model. Alternatively or additionally, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, the image recording system 208 may store one or more images in any suitable well-known image file format, for example, such as the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) image file format, Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF), Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), Bitmap Image File (BMP) format, or Portable Network Graphics (PNG) image file format, which will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art. In some embodiments, the image recording system 208 may include a machine-readable medium storing one or more digital image signals and / or one or more images in a form readable by a machine (such as a computing device). In these embodiments, the machine-readable medium may include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, etc. Alternatively or additionally, the machine-readable medium may include a hard disk drive (e.g., a solid-state drive), a floppy disk drive and associated removable media, a CD-ROM drive, an optical drive, flash memory, or a removable media cartridge for persistent storage of one or more digital image signals of the camera assembly 206.

[0036] The communication network 210 communicatively couples the camera system 202 and the image recording system 208. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, the communication network 210 may be implemented as a wireless communication network, a wired communication network, and / or any combination thereof, which will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art. In some embodiments, the communication network 210 may include an optical fiber network and / or a coaxial network that uses optical fibers and / or coaxial cables to deliver one or more digital image signals and / or one or more images from the camera system 202 to the image recording system 208. In some embodiments, the communication network 210 may include a hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) network that combines optical fibers and coaxial cables to deliver one or more digital image signals and / or one or more images from the camera system 202 to the image recording system 208.

[0037] Exemplary camera system that can be implemented within an exemplary camera system

[0038] Figure 2BThe flowchart illustrates an exemplary operation of an exemplary camera system that can be implemented in an exemplary image capture system according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The present disclosure is not limited to this operation description. Instead, those of ordinary skill in the relevant art will understand that other operation control flows are also within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. The following discussion describes an exemplary operation control flow 250 for projecting light related to one or more images (e.g., a scene) within a field of view onto an image sensor. The operation control flow 250 can be executed by a camera system having a camera lens system and a camera assembly (such as the camera system 202 having a camera lens system 204 and a camera assembly 206 as described above Figure 2A in).

[0039] At operation 252, the operation control flow 250 can turn the center of the camera lens system towards the periphery of the image sensor of the camera assembly to direct the light captured by the center of the camera lens system towards the periphery or edge of the image sensor. In some embodiments, the operation control flow 250 can change the orientation or position of the camera lens system relative to the camera assembly, e.g., tilt, shift, and / or rotate. For example, the operation control flow 250 can turn the orientation or position of the center of the camera lens system (e.g., the center of an ultra-wide-angle lens such as a fish-eye lens or a rectilinear lens) relative to the image sensor. In this example, the operation control flow 250 can turn the orientation or position of the center of the camera lens system towards the periphery (e.g., the edge) of the image sensor to focus the light captured by the center of the camera lens system towards the periphery of the image sensor. In some embodiments, the operation control flow 250 can focus the light captured from, e.g., one or more images towards the periphery of the image sensor.

[0040] At operation 254, the operation control flow 250 can focus the light captured by the camera lens system around the periphery of the image sensor, according to operation 252, to be non-uniformly distributed over the image sensor. In some embodiments, the operation control flow 250 can direct the light captured by the camera lens system to be heterogeneously (e.g., non-uniformly) distributed over the image sensor around the approximate center of the image sensor, according to operation 252. In these embodiments, compared to conventional ultra-wide-angle lenses that project light uniformly as described above, according to operation 252, the angular distribution of the light can be characterized as non-uniform across the image sensor. For example, the operation control flow 250 can focus the light onto the image sensor to be more concentrated near the center of the image sensor compared to the periphery of the image sensor. In some embodiments, the operation control flow 250 can concentrate the light near the center of the image sensor to project more details of the image, e.g., more details of the scene, near the center of the image sensor.

[0041] Exemplary camera lens system that can be implemented within an exemplary camera system

[0042] Figure 3A and Figure 3B illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary camera lens system that can be implemented within an exemplary camera system in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In the exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 3A , the camera lens system 302 projects light related to one or more images (e.g., a scene) within its field of view onto an image sensor 304. As will be described in further detail below, the camera lens system 302 can direct light towards the image sensor 304 to provide a heterogeneous (e.g., non-uniform) light distribution on the image sensor 304. The camera lens system 302 and the image sensor 304 can respectively represent exemplary embodiments of the camera lens system 204 and the image sensor 212 as described above in Figure 2A .

[0043] The camera lens system 302 will be described in further detail below with respect to exemplary ray tracing of rays 350.1 to 350.n onto the image sensor 304. However, it should be noted that the exemplary ray tracing shown in Figure 3A is for illustrative purposes only. Those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, rays 350.1 and 350.n can be different from the rays shown in Figure 3A . As shown in Figure 3A , the camera lens system 302 can capture rays 350.1 to 350.n within its field of view. In some embodiments, rays 350.1 to 350.n can be reflected from one or more physical objects, for example, within a scene within its field of view. In the exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 3A , rays 350.1 to 350.n can be characterized as having different angles of incidence with respect to the camera lens system 302. In some embodiments, among rays 350.1 to 350.n, the rays closest to the periphery or edge of the field of view of the camera lens system 302 (e.g., rays 350.1 and ray 350.n) can be characterized as having the largest angle of incidence, for example, approximately half of the field of view of the camera lens system 302. For example, the camera lens system 302 can have a field of view of one hundred and sixty (160) degrees. In this example, rays 350.1 and ray 350.n shown in Figure 3A can be characterized as having an angle of incidence of approximately eighty (80) degrees with respect to the camera lens system 302. In some embodiments, the middle ray among rays 350.1 to 350.n (e.g., ray 350.5) can be characterized as having the smallest angle of incidence, for example, approximately zero (0) degrees. In these embodiments, the middle ray can be characterized as propagating parallel to the camera lens system 302.

[0044] After capturing light rays 350.1 to 350.n, the camera lens system 302 may focus (e.g., converge) the light rays 350.1 to 350.n using a single lens of a simple transparent material; however, as will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, a compound lens of a more complex transparent material, such as a doublet lens, a triplet lens, and / or an achromatic lens, may be used. In these embodiments, by way of example, the transparent material may include glass, crystal, and / or plastic (such as acrylic resin). In some embodiments, these complex compound lenses may be configured and arranged to form an ultra-wide-angle lens, such as a fish-eye lens that produces a strong visual distortion designed to create one or more hemispherical images, and / or a rectilinear lens that produces one or more images in which straight features (such as the edges of a building wall) appear straight rather than curved as in a fish-eye lens, with little or no barrel or pincushion distortion.

[0045] After being focused by the camera lens system 302, the light rays 350.1 to 350.n may exit the camera lens system 302 to provide light rays 352.1 to 352.n to the image sensor 304. In Figure 3A the exemplary embodiment shown, the camera lens system 302 may angularly distribute the light rays 352.1 to 352.n across the image sensor 304 heterogeneously (e.g., non-uniformly). For example, compared to the light rays 354.1 to 354.n exiting a conventional ultra-wide-angle lens (e.g., the conventional fish-eye lens described above), the angular distribution of the light rays 352.1 to 352.n may be characterized as non-uniform across the image sensor 304. In this example, the conventional light rays 354.1 to 354.n may be characterized as uniformly distributed across the image sensor 304. As Figure 3B shown, the conventional light rays 354.1 to 354.n (abbreviated as conventional light rays 354 for convenience) may be uniformly distributed around a central ray corresponding to the middle ray among the light rays 350.1 to 350.n (e.g., light ray 350.5). In some embodiments, the conventional light rays 354 may be considered to be evenly or equidistantly spaced from each other around the central ray of the image sensor 304. And as Figure 3BAs shown, light rays 352.1 to 352.n (abbreviated as light rays 352 for convenience) can be non-uniformly distributed around a central light ray corresponding to the middle light ray among light rays 350.1 to 350.n (e.g., light ray 350.5). In some embodiments, light rays 352.1 to 352.n can be considered to be non-uniformly or differently spaced apart from each other around the central light ray on image sensor 304. In these embodiments, light rays 352 can be more concentrated near the center of image sensor 304 compared to the periphery or edge of image sensor 304. In these embodiments, the pixels of image sensor 304 can be distributed within image sensor 304 to provide a first pixel density, e.g., seventy (70) pixels per degree (PPD), at the center of image sensor 304 and gradually transition to a second pixel density, e.g., one hundred forty (140) pixels per degree (PPD), near the periphery of image sensor 304. In these embodiments, the pixels of image sensor 304 can gradually transition from the first pixel density to the second pixel density linearly (e.g., uniformly) and / or non-linearly (e.g., non-uniformly).

[0046] In some embodiments, image sensor 304 can be characterized as having a lower angular resolution at the center of image sensor 304 compared to the periphery of image sensor 304 because, as Figure 3A and Figure 3B shown, image sensor 304 captures more of light rays 352.1 to 352.n near the center of image sensor 304. In these embodiments, angular resolution is related to the minimum angular distance between objects that image sensor 304 components can distinguish resolvable details. Generally, compared to a higher angular resolution, a lower angular resolution indicates that image sensor 304 can distinguish more details of one or more images (e.g., scenes) within its field of view. Thus, compared to a higher angular resolution, a lower angular resolution is often associated with higher optical image quality (e.g., magnification). As Figure 3B shown, the lowest angular resolution and thus the highest optical image quality are near the center of image sensor 304 where the concentration of light rays 352.1 to 352.n is greatest, while the highest angular resolution and thus the lowest optical image quality are near the periphery of image sensor 304 where the concentration of light rays 352.1 to 352.n is least.

[0047] Exemplary camera lens housing that can be implemented within an exemplary camera system

[0048] Figure 4A and Figure 4B illustrate a simplified block diagram of an exemplary camera lens housing that can be implemented within an exemplary camera system according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In Figure 4A and Figure 4BIn the exemplary embodiment shown, the camera lens housing 402 projects light onto the image sensor 404. As will be described in further detail below, the camera lens housing 402 can change the orientation or position of the camera lens housing 402 relative to the image sensor 404, e.g., tilt, shift, and / or rotate. Thus, the camera lens housing 402 can direct the orientation or position of the center of the camera lens housing 402 to focus the light captured by the camera lens housing 402 towards the periphery (e.g., edge) of the image sensor 404. The camera lens housing 402 and the image sensor 404 can respectively represent exemplary embodiments of the camera lens housing and the image sensor 212 of the camera lens system 204 as described above Figure 2A in the camera lens system 204.

[0049] In Figure 4A the exemplary embodiment shown, the camera lens housing 402 can be implemented to form a view control lens, such as a shift lens or a tilt-shift lens. As Figure 4A shown, the camera lens housing 402 can capture light rays 450 within its field of view. In some embodiments, the light rays 450 can be reflected from, for example, one or more physical objects within a scene. After capturing the light rays 450, the camera lens housing 402 can focus (e.g., converge) the light rays 450 using a single lens of a simple transparent material; however, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, as will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art, it is possible to use more complex compound lenses of transparent materials, such as doublets, triplets, and / or achromatic lenses. In these embodiments, the transparent material can include glass, crystal, and / or plastic (by way of example, such as acrylic resin). In some embodiments, these complex compound lenses can be configured and arranged to form an ultra-wide-angle lens, such as, by way of example, a fish-eye lens that produces a strong visual distortion designed to create one or more hemispherical images, and / or a rectilinear lens that produces one or more images in which straight features (such as the edges of a building wall) appear straight rather than curved as in a fish-eye lens with little or no barrel or pincushion distortion.

[0050] After being focused by the camera lens housing 402, the light rays 450 can leave the camera lens housing 402 to provide light rays 452.1 and / or light rays 452.2 towards the image sensor 404. In some embodiments, the camera lens housing 402 can focus the light rays 450 captured from one or more images (e.g., a scene) to provide the light rays 452.1 corresponding to the one or more images to the image sensor 404. In some embodiments, the camera lens housing 402 can focus the light rays 452.1 onto the center of the image sensor 404. As Figure 4BAs shown, the center of the camera lens housing 402 can be configured and arranged to be oriented or positioned relative to the image sensor 404 to project the center 454.1 of the simple single lens and / or compound lens of the camera lens housing 402 onto the center of the image sensor 404. In some embodiments, the light rays 452.1 projected onto the image sensor 404 can be reconstructed into one or more images, and these one or more images can be projected onto a three-dimensional media plane (for example, such as the three-dimensional media plane 102) in a manner substantially similar to that described above in Figure 1A and Figure 1B . In these embodiments, the one or more images that can be projected onto the three-dimensional media plane can be characterized as having their highest optical image quality (for example, resolution) at the top of the three-dimensional media plane (for example, within the conventional viewing section 112 as described above).

[0051] Alternatively or additionally, the camera lens housing 402 can also focus the light rays 450 captured from, for example, a scene to provide the light rays 452.2 corresponding to one or more images to the image sensor 404. In some embodiments, the camera lens housing 402 can focus the light rays 452.2 towards the periphery (for example, the edge) of the image sensor 404. In these embodiments, the camera lens housing 402 can change the orientation or position of the camera lens housing 402 relative to the image sensor 404, for example, tilt, shift, and / or rotate. For example, the camera lens housing 402 can turn the orientation or position of the center of the camera lens housing 402 relative to the image sensor 404. In this example, the camera lens housing 402 can turn the orientation or position of the center of the camera lens housing 402 relative to the image sensor 404 to direct the light rays 452.2 towards the periphery (for example, the edge) of the image sensor 404. As Figure 4A shown, the camera lens housing 402 can turn the orientation or position of the center of the camera lens housing 402 by a height H to shift the projection of the light rays 452.2 on the image sensor 404 by a height h. In some embodiments, the height H and the height h are approximately one to one. In these embodiments, the orientation or position of the center of the camera lens housing 402 can be turned relative to the image circle projected by the camera lens housing 402, and this image circle is related to the coverage range of the image sensor 404. For example, if the image circle projected by the camera lens housing 402 is ten (10) mm larger than the height of the image sensor 404, then the achievable turn is five (5) mm. In this example, after five (5) mm, any additional turn of the orientation or position of the center of the camera lens housing 402 is often not beneficial.

[0052] As Figure 4BAs shown, the center of the camera lens housing 402 can be configured and arranged to be oriented or positioned relative to the image sensor 404 to shift the center 454.2 of the simple single lens and / or compound lens of the camera lens housing 402 by a height h relative to the center 454.1 on the image sensor 404. In some embodiments, the light rays 452.2 projected onto the image sensor 404 can be reconstructed into one or more images, and these one or more images can be projected onto a three-dimensional media plane (for example, such as the three-dimensional media plane 102) in a substantially similar manner as described above Figure 1A and Figure 1B above. In these embodiments, one or more images that can be projected onto the three-dimensional media plane can be characterized such that their highest optical image quality (e.g., resolution) is positioned along the interior of the three-dimensional media plane (e.g., within the viewer's main viewing section 104 described above Figure 1A and Figure 2B above). In some embodiments, the viewer's main viewing section 104, as described above Figure 1A and 2B above, can be characterized as being shifted along the polar angle relative to the above-described conventional main viewing section 112. In these embodiments, the angular difference or shift along the polar angle between the conventional main viewing section 112 and the viewer's main viewing section 104 can be expressed as:

[0053]

[0054] where shift θ represents the angular difference or shift along the polar angle θ between the conventional main viewing section 112 and the viewer's main viewing section 104, height h represents the height h expressed in millimeters (mm) as described above Figure 4A and Figure 4B above, l sensor represents the vertical dimension or horizontal dimension of the image sensor 404 expressed in millimeters (mm) assuming a square image sensor, and fov represents the field of view of the simple single lens and / or compound lens of the camera lens housing 402. For example, a fifteen (15) millimeter (mm) shift between the center of the camera lens housing 402 and the center of the image sensor 404 provides a thirty-two (32) degree shift along the polar angle θ between the conventional main viewing section 112 and the viewer's main viewing section 104 for a 75 millimeter (mm) square image sensor, and a one hundred sixty (160) degree field of view for the field of view of the simple single lens and / or compound lens of the camera lens housing 402.

[0055] Exemplary camera system

[0056] Figure 5A andFigure 5B FIG. illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary camera system in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In Figure 5A the exemplary embodiment shown, a camera lens system 500 may project light captured by the camera lens system 500 onto an image sensor 506. As Figure 5A shown, the camera lens system 500 may include a camera lens system 502 to direct light captured from, for example, a scene onto the image sensor 506. The camera lens system 502 may direct light toward the image sensor 506 so as to provide a heterogeneous (e.g., non-uniform) distribution of light onto the image sensor 506 in a manner substantially similar to that of the camera lens system 302 described above Figure 3A and Figure 3B herein. As Figure 5A shown, the camera lens system 500 may include a camera lens housing 504 to direct light captured by the camera lens system 502 onto the image sensor 506. The camera lens housing 504 may change the orientation or position of the camera lens system 502 relative to the image sensor 506, e.g., tilt, shift, and / or rotate, in a manner substantially similar to that of the camera lens housing 402 described above Figure 4A and Figure 4B herein. The camera lens system 502 may represent an exemplary embodiment of the camera lens system 302 described above Figure 3A and Figure 3B herein, and / or the camera lens housing 504 may represent an exemplary embodiment of the camera lens housing 402 described above Figure 4A and Figure 4B herein.

[0057] As Figure 5A shown, the camera lens system 502 may capture light rays 550 within its field of view in a manner substantially similar to that of the camera lens system 302 described above Figure 3A and Figure 3B herein. After being focused by the camera lens system 502, the light rays 550 may exit the camera lens system 502 to provide light rays 552.1 toward the image sensor 506. In Figure 5A the exemplary embodiment shown, the camera lens system 502 may angularly distribute the light rays 552.1 heterogeneously (e.g., non-uniformly) across the image sensor 506 in a manner substantially similar to that of the camera lens system 302 described above Figure 3A and Figure 3B herein. And as Figure 5B shown, the center of the camera lens housing 504 may be configured and arranged to be in a manner substantially similar to that of the above Figure 4A and Figure 4Boriented or positioned in a substantially similar manner as described with respect to image sensor 506 to project the center 554.1 of camera lens system 502 onto the center of image sensor 506. As Figure 5B further shown, camera lens system 502 may angularly distribute light rays 552.1 heterogeneously (e.g., non-uniformly) around the center of image sensor 506 in a substantially similar manner as the camera lens system 302 described above Figure 3A and Figure 3B Alternatively or additionally, camera lens housing 504 may focus light rays 550 captured from, for example, a scene to provide light rays 552.2 corresponding to one or more images to image sensor 506. In the exemplary embodiment shown in

[0058] camera lens housing 504 may change the orientation or position of camera lens system 502 relative to image sensor 506 in a substantially similar manner as the camera lens housing 402 described above Figure 5A and Figure 4A and Figure 4B For example, tilt, shift, and / or rotate. For example, camera lens housing 504 may turn the orientation or position of the center of camera lens system 502 relative to image sensor 506. In this example, camera lens housing 504 may turn the orientation or position of the center of camera lens system 502 in a substantially similar manner as described above Figure 4A and Figure 4B to direct light rays 452.2 towards the periphery (e.g., edge) of image sensor 506. As Figure 4B shown, the center of camera lens housing 504 may be configured and arranged to be oriented or positioned relative to image sensor 506 in a substantially similar manner as the camera lens system 402 described above Figure 4A and Figure 4B to shift the center 554.2 of camera lens system 502 a height h relative to center 554.1 on image sensor 506. As Figure 5B further shown, camera lens system 502 may be specifically manufactured to direct light rays 552.2 to be heterogeneously (e.g., non-uniformly) distributed onto image sensor 506 around the periphery of image sensor 506. In some embodiments, camera lens system 502 may be in a substantially similar manner as described above Figure 3A and Figure 3BIn a substantially similar manner as described above, light 552.2 is angularly distributed heterogeneously (e.g., non-uniformly) towards the periphery of image sensor 506. For example, camera lens system 502 may focus light 552.2 onto image sensor 506 such that it is more concentrated near the periphery of image sensor 506 compared to the center of image sensor 506. In some embodiments, camera lens system 502 may concentrate light near the periphery of image sensor 502 in order to project more details of one or more images, e.g., more details of a scene, near the periphery of image sensor 502. In these embodiments, camera lens system 502 may concentrate light to a first pixel density, e.g., seventy (70) pixels per degree (PPD), near the periphery of image sensor 506 and gradually transition to a second pixel density, e.g., one hundred forty (140) pixels per degree (PPD), at the center of image sensor 506. In these embodiments, the pixels of image sensor 506 may gradually transition from the first pixel density to the second pixel density linearly (e.g., uniformly) and / or non-linearly (e.g., non-uniformly).

[0059] Exemplary image projection system for projecting a captured image onto an exemplary venue

[0060] Figure 6 FIG. illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary image projection system in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. As described above, an image capture system (such as image capture system 200 described above) Figure 2A may capture one or more images that may be projected onto a three-dimensional media plane of a venue (such as three-dimensional media plane 102 of venue 100 described above) Figure 1A and Figure 1B ). In the exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 6 , image projection system 600 may transform one or more images from two dimensions to three dimensions for projection onto a three-dimensional media plane. As will be described in further detail below, image projection system 600 may utilize kernel-based sampling techniques to project one or more picture elements (also referred to as pixels) of a three-dimensional media plane onto one or more corresponding two-dimensional points on one or more images. In these embodiments, the kernel-based sampling techniques then weight and accumulate color information of one or more pixels located near one or more corresponding two-dimensional points on one or more images from one or more images to interpolate color information of pixels of the three-dimensional media plane (e.g., luminance and / or chrominance components of a YUV color model and / or red, green, and / or blue components of an RGB color model). As shown in Figure 6 , image projection system 600 may include an image recording system 208 communicatively coupled to an image processing server 604 and a venue 606 via a communication network 608. Although image projection system 600 is shown inFigure 6 is shown as including a plurality of discrete devices, but those skilled in the art will recognize that one or more of these devices may be combined together without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. For example, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, the image recording system 208 and the image processing server 604 may be combined into a single discrete device without the communication network 608, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0061] As described above, the image recording system 208 may store one or more digital image signals and / or one or more images provided by an image capture system (such as Figure 2A the image capture system 200 described in Figure 6 As will be described in further detail below, one or more digital image signals and / or one or more images may be further processed by the image processing server 604 in a substantially similar manner as described above Figure 1A and Figure 1B to be projected onto a three-dimensional media plane (such as, by way of example, the three-dimensional media plane of the venue 606).

[0062] The image processing server 604 includes one or more computer systems, exemplary embodiments of which will be described in further detail below, to retrieve one or more images stored in the image recording system 208. Alternatively or additionally, the image processing server 604 may also reconstruct one or more images from one or more digital image signals stored in the image recording system 208. In some embodiments, the image processing server 604 may implement one or more digital image processing techniques, also referred to as digital picture processing techniques, to process one or more digital image signals stored in the image recording system 208 to reconstruct one or more images from one or more digital image signals. In some embodiments, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, one or more digital image processing techniques may include decoding, demosaicing, defective pixel removal, white balance, noise reduction, color translation, tone reproduction, compression, removal of system noise, dark frame subtraction, optical correction, contrast manipulation, unsharp masking, and / or any other suitable well-known digital image processing techniques, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0063] After retrieving one or more images and / or reconstructing one or more images from one or more digital image signals, the image processing server 604 may mathematically transform the two-dimensional coordinates of one or more images into the three-dimensional coordinates of the venue 606, which will be described in further detail below, so that one or more images can be projected onto the venue 606. In Figure 6In the exemplary embodiment shown, the image processing server 604 may mathematically transform the two-dimensional coordinates of one or more images into the three-dimensional coordinates of the venue 606 using kernel-based sampling techniques. In some embodiments, the kernel-based sampling technique projects the three-dimensional coordinates of the pixels of the venue 606 into the two-dimensional image space of one or more images to effectively transform the three-dimensional coordinates of the venue 606 into the two-dimensional coordinates of the two-dimensional points projected onto one or more images. In these embodiments, the kernel-based sampling technique may convert the three-dimensional coordinates of the venue 606 into the two-dimensional image space of one or more images. Such a conversion may spatially align the three-dimensional coordinates of the venue 606 with the two-dimensional image space of one or more images. For example, the kernel-based sampling technique may spatially align the top of the venue 606 with the top of the two-dimensional image space of one or more images.

[0064] After mathematically transforming the two-dimensional coordinates of one or more images, the kernel-based sampling technique performs statistical interpolation on the color information of the pixels of the venue 606 in one or more images (for example, the luminance and / or chrominance components of the YUV color model and / or the red, green, and / or blue components of the RGB color model). In some embodiments, the kernel-based sampling technique may perform statistical interpolation on the color information of the pixels of the venue 606 based on the color information of the pixels of one or more images. In these embodiments, the kernel-based sampling technique may perform statistical interpolation on the color information of the pixels of the venue 606 by weighting and accumulating the color information of the pixels near the two-dimensional points projected onto one or more images in one or more images.

[0065] After interpolating the color information of the pixels of the venue 606, the image processing server 604 may provide the color information to the venue 606 to project the image onto the venue 606. In some embodiments, the image processing server 604 may generate a quadruple for the pixels of the venue 606, which includes the three-dimensional coordinates of the pixels of the venue 606 and the color information of the pixels of the venue 606 statistically interpolated from one or more images. In Figure 6In the exemplary embodiment shown, the venue 606 may represent a three-dimensional structure, such as a hemispherical structure (also referred to as a hemispherical dome). In some embodiments, the hemispherical structure may include one or more visual displays dispersed within the interior or soffit of the hemispherical structure, often referred to as a three-dimensional media plane. In these embodiments, the one or more visual displays may include picture elements (also referred to as pixels) forming a series of rows and a series of columns that form the three-dimensional media plane. In these embodiments, by way of example, the pixels may be implemented using one or more light-emitting diode (LED) displays, one or more organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, and / or one or more quantum dot (QD) displays. For example, the three-dimensional media plane may include a 19,000×13,500 LED visual display that surrounds the interior of the three-dimensional structure to form a visual display of approximately 160,000 square feet. In some embodiments, such as during an event, the venue 600 may illuminate the pixels of the venue 606 according to color information to project one or more images onto the three-dimensional media plane. In these embodiments, one or more images may be projected onto the three-dimensional media plane during an event to enhance the visual experience of the audience when viewing the event. In Figure 7 the exemplary embodiment shown, the three-dimensional media plane may include a main viewing section for the audience with the highest optical image quality positioned along the interior or soffit of the three-dimensional media plane, such as the main viewing section 104 described above Figure 1A and Figure 1B as described. In some embodiments, in a manner substantially similar to the main viewing section 104 illustrated in Figure 1A and Figure 1B , the main viewing section for the audience may be considered a hemispherical structure that is approximately at the springing, about halfway between the top and the base of the three-dimensional media plane. In a manner substantially similar to the main viewing section 104 illustrated in Figure 1A and Figure 1B , compared to other viewing sections of the three-dimensional media plane, the main viewing section for the audience may be characterized as having the highest optical image quality (e.g., resolution). In some embodiments, in a manner substantially similar to the main viewing section 104 illustrated in Figure 1A and Figure 1B , the optical image quality of one or more images decreases along the interior of the three-dimensional media plane from the highest optical image quality of the main viewing section for the audience towards another viewing section opposite the diameter of the main viewing section for the audience.

[0066] Exemplary kernel-based sampling technique that can be implemented within an exemplary image projection system

[0067] Figure 7Illustrated is a flowchart of an exemplary kernel-based sampling technique that can be implemented within an exemplary image projection system in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The present disclosure is not limited to this operational description. Rather, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art that other operational control flows are also within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. The following discussion describes an exemplary operational control flow 700 for mathematically transforming two-dimensional coordinates (uv.x1, uv.y1), (uv.x2, uv.y2) … (uv.x m , uv.y m ) of pixels of an image into three-dimensional coordinates (pos.x1, pos.y1, pos.z1), (pos.x2, pos.y2, pos.z2) … (pos.x Figure 1A and Figure 1B the venue 100 described above, and / or the venue 606 described above Figure 6 ) of a three-dimensional media plane of a three-dimensional venue (such as the venue 100 described above, and / or the venue 606 described above). For convenience, the two-dimensional coordinates (uv.x1, uv.y1), (uv.x2, uv.y2) … (uv.x n , pos.y n , pos.z n ) are collectively referred to as two-dimensional coordinates uv.x, uv.y, and the three-dimensional coordinates (pos.x1, pos.y1, pos.z1), (pos.x2, pos.y2, pos.z2) … (pos.x m , pos.y m , pos.z n , pos.y n , pos.z n ) are collectively referred to as three-dimensional coordinates pos.x, pos.y, and pos.z. By way of example, the operational control flow 700 can be executed by one or more computer systems (such as, for example, the image processing server 604 described above Figure 6 ).

[0068] At operation 702, the operational control flow 700 projects the three-dimensional coordinates pos.x, pos.y, and pos.z of the pixels of the three-dimensional media plane onto the image to effectively transform the three-dimensional coordinates pos.x, pos.y, and pos.z of the pixels of the three-dimensional media plane into two-dimensional coordinates (UV.x1, UV.y1), (UV.x2, UV.y2) … (UV.x n , UV.y n ) of two-dimensional points projected onto the image. For convenience, the two-dimensional coordinates (UV.x1, UV.y1), (UV.x2, UV.y2) … (UV.x n , UV.y nCollectively referred to as two-dimensional coordinates UV.x, UV.y.

[0069] At operation 704, the operation control flow 700 performs statistical interpolation on the color information of the pixels of the three-dimensional media plane from the image according to operation 702 (for example, the luminance and / or chrominance components of the YUV color model and / or the red, green, and / or blue components of the RGB color model). In some embodiments, the operation control flow 700 may perform statistical interpolation on the color information of the pixels of the three-dimensional media plane according to operation 702 based on the pixel color information of the image in operation 702. In these embodiments, the operation control flow 700 may perform statistical interpolation on the color information of the pixels of the three-dimensional media plane according to operation 702 by weighting and accumulating the color information of the pixels of the image near the two-dimensional points projected on the image according to operation 702. In some embodiments, the weighting may be distance-based weighting of the color information of the pixels of the image according to operation 702 near the two-dimensional points projected on the image according to operation 702. For example, the weight of the pixels in the image according to operation 702 that are closer to the two-dimensional points projected on the image according to operation 702 is greater than the weight of the pixels that are farther from the two-dimensional points projected on the image according to operation 702. In some embodiments, if the distance between the two-dimensional points projected on the image according to operation 702 and the nearby pixels of the image can be considered a random variable, then without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, the operation control flow 700 may weight the color information of the nearby pixels of the image according to a probability density function (such as a Gaussian distribution, a normal distribution, a standard normal distribution, a Student's t-distribution, a chi-square distribution, a continuous uniform distribution, and / or any other well-known probability density function, which will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art).

[0070] At operation 706, the operation control flow 700 provides the color information of the pixels to the venue for projection onto the venue in a substantially similar manner as described above Figure 6 above.

[0071] Figure 8 Illustrates a kernel-based sampling technique that can be implemented within an exemplary projection system according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The following discussion of Figure 8 will further describe the kernel-based sampling technique as described above Figure 6 above and / or the operation control flow 700 as described above Figure 7 above. In Figure 8In the exemplary embodiment shown, the kernel-based sampling technique 800 mathematically transforms the two-dimensional coordinates of the image 802 onto the three-dimensional coordinates of the three-dimensional media plane of the three-dimensional venue 804. When performed by one or more computing devices, processors, controllers, or other electrical, mechanical, and / or electromechanical devices that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art, the kernel-based sampling technique 800 can mathematically transform the two-dimensional coordinates of the pixels 806.1 to 806.m of the image 802 onto the three-dimensional coordinates of the pixels 808.1 to 808.n of the three-dimensional media plane, as will be described in further detail below. In some embodiments, the kernel-based sampling technique 800 can represent an exemplary embodiment of the kernel-based sampling technique described above Figure 6 and / or the operation control flow 700 described above Figure 7 . Also, the three-dimensional media plane can represent the venue 100 described above Figure 1A and Figure 1B and / or an exemplary embodiment of the three-dimensional media plane described above Figure 6 and / or Figure 7 .

[0072] In Figure 8 the exemplary embodiment shown, the kernel-based sampling technique 800 can mathematically transform the two-dimensional coordinates (uv.x1, uv.y1), (uv.x2, uv.y2) … (uv.x m , uv.y m ) of the image 802 into the three-dimensional coordinates (pos.x1, pos.y1, pos.z1), (pos.x2, pos.y2, pos.z2) … (pos.x n , pos.y n , pos.z n ) of the three-dimensional media plane such that the image 802 can be projected onto the three-dimensional media plane. For convenience, the two-dimensional coordinates (uv.x1, uv.y1), (uv.x2, uv.y2) … (uv.x m , uv.y m ) are collectively referred to as the two-dimensional coordinates uv.x, uv.y, and the three-dimensional coordinates (pos.x1, pos.y1, pos.z1), (pos.x2, pos.y2, pos.z2) … (pos.x n , pos.y n , pos.z n ) are collectively referred to as the three-dimensional coordinates pos.x, pos.y, and pos.z. As Figure 8As shown in the figure, the kernel-based sampling technique 800 can project the three-dimensional coordinates pos.x, pos.y, and pos.z of pixels 808.1 to 808.n in a three-dimensional media plane onto the two-dimensional space of image 802, so as to effectively transform the three-dimensional coordinates pos.x, pos.y, and pos.z of pixels 808.1 to 808.n into two-dimensional coordinates (UV.x1, UV.y1), (UV.x2, UV.y2) … (UV.x n , UV.y n ) projected onto the two-dimensional space of image 802. For convenience, the two-dimensional coordinates (UV.x1, UV.y1), (UV.x2, UV.y2) … (UV.x n , UV.y n ) projected onto the two-dimensional space of image 802 are collectively referred to as two-dimensional coordinates UV.x, UV.y projected onto the two-dimensional space of image 802.

[0073] After projecting the three-dimensional coordinates pos.x, pos.y, and pos.z of pixels 808.1 to 808.n in the three-dimensional media plane, the kernel-based sampling technique 800 performs statistical interpolation on the color information of pixels 808.1 to 808.n from image 802 (for example, the luminance and / or chrominance components of the YUV color model and / or the red, green, and / or blue components of the RGB color model). In some embodiments, the kernel-based sampling technique 800 can perform statistical interpolation on the color information of pixels 808.1 to 808.n based on the color information of pixels 806.1 to 806.m. In these embodiments, the kernel-based sampling technique 800 can perform statistical interpolation on the color information of pixels 808.1 to 808.n by weighting and accumulating the color information of pixels 806.1 to 806.m near the two-dimensional points 810.1 to 810.n.

[0074] As Figure 8As shown, the kernel-based sampling technique 800 can weight the color information of pixels 806.1 to 806.m near two-dimensional points 810.1 to 810.n. In some embodiments, the kernel-based sampling technique 800 can identify pixels 806.1 to 806.m near two-dimensional points 810.1 to 810.n. In these embodiments, pixels 806.1 to 806.m near two-dimensional points 810.1 to 810.n can be within the region of interest (ROI) of the image 802 (also referred to as sampling kernel spaces 812.1 to 812.r). Generally speaking, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, the sampling kernel spaces 812.1 to 812.r can be any geometric region in the two-dimensional space of the image 802 that includes one or more of the pixels 806.1 to 806.m, which will be obvious to those skilled in the relevant art. In some embodiments, for example, the any geometric region can include a closed geometric region, such as a regular curve (such as a circle or an ellipse), an irregular curve; a regular polygon (such as an equilateral triangle or a square), and / or an irregular polygon (such as a rectangle and / or a parallelogram). Alternatively or additionally, the any geometric region can be related to one or more mathematical functions (for example, such as the Ackley function, the Himmelblau function, the Rastrigin function, the Rosenbrock function (also referred to as the Rosenbrock banana function) and / or the Shekel function). In some embodiments, the sampling kernel spaces 812.1 to 812.r can be substantially similar to each other. Alternatively, some of the sampling kernel spaces 812.1 to 812.r can be different from each other. For example, the kernel-based sampling technique 800 can use one or more mathematical functions (for example, such as the Rosenbrock function) as the any geometric region for the first sampling kernel space among the sampling kernel spaces 812.1 to 812.r and use a regular curve (for example, such as a circle) as the any geometric region for the second sampling kernel space among the sampling kernel spaces 812.1 to 812.r. In some embodiments, the any geometric region can be related to the three-dimensional coordinates pos.x, pos.y, and pos.z of pixels 808.1 to 808.n of the three-dimensional media plane. In these embodiments, when the three-dimensional coordinates pos.x, pos.y, and pos.z of the corresponding pixel are close to the top or crown of the three-dimensional media plane, the kernel-based sampling technique 800 can use the first any geometric region for the first sampling kernel space, and / or when the three-dimensional coordinates pos.x, pos.y, and pos.z of the corresponding pixel are close to the bottom or bounce of the three-dimensional media plane, the second any geometric region can be used for the second sampling kernel space.

[0075] After identifying pixels 806.1 to 806.m within sampling kernel spaces 812.1 to 812.r, kernel-based sampling technique 800 can weight the color information of these pixels (for example, the luminance and / or chrominance components of a YUV color model, and the red, green, and / or blue components of an RGB color model). In some embodiments, the weighting can be distance-based weighting of the color information of pixels 806.1 to 806.m within sampling kernel spaces 812.1 to 812.r. For example, the weights of pixels 806.1 to 806.m within sampling kernel spaces 812.1 to 812.r that are closer to two-dimensional points 810.1 to 810.n are greater than the weights of pixels 806.1 to 806.m within sampling kernel spaces 812.1 to 812.r that are farther from two-dimensional points 810.1 to 810.n. In some embodiments, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, if the distance between pixels 806.1 to 806.m within sampling kernel spaces 812.1 to 812.r and two-dimensional points 810.1 to 810.n can be considered a random variable, then kernel-based sampling technique 800 can weight the color information of pixels 806.1 to 806.m within sampling kernel spaces 812.1 to 812.r according to a probability density function (such as a Gaussian distribution, a normal distribution, a standard normal distribution, a Student's t-distribution, a chi-squared distribution, a continuous uniform distribution, and / or any other well-known probability density function, which will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art).

[0076] Once the color information of pixels 806.1 to 806.m within sampling kernel spaces 812.1 to 812.r has been weighted, kernel-based sampling technique 800 can accumulate the weighted color information of these pixels to statistically interpolate the color information of pixels 808.1 to 808.n. In Figure 8In the exemplary embodiments shown, the kernel-based sampling technique 800 can accumulate the color information of the weighted pixels 806.1 to 806.m, as described above, into the sampling kernel spaces 812.1 to 812.r to statistically interpolate the color information of the two-dimensional points 810.1 to 810.n. In these embodiments, the kernel-based sampling technique 800 can associate the two-dimensional points 810.1 to 810.n projected onto the two-dimensional space of the image 802 with their corresponding pixels among the pixels 808.1 to 808.n in the three-dimensional media plane. Thereafter, the kernel-based sampling technique 800 can associate the color information of the two-dimensional points 810.1 to 810.n with their corresponding pixels among the pixels 808.1 to 808.n to statistically interpolate the color information of the pixels 808.1 to 808.n. In some embodiments, the kernel-based sampling technique 800 can generate quadruples for the pixels 808.1 to 808.n, which include the three-dimensional coordinates pos.x, pos.y, and pos.z of the pixels 808.1 to 808.n and the color information of the pixels 808.1 to 808.n statistically interpolated from the image 802.

[0077] Figure 9 Illustrated is a kernel-based sampling technique that can be implemented within an exemplary projection system in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The following discussion of Figure 9 will further describe exemplary embodiments of the sampling kernel space of the kernel-based sampling technique 800 as described above Figure 8 therein. In the exemplary embodiments shown Figure 9 therein, the kernel-based sampling technique 900 mathematically transforms the two-dimensional coordinates of the image 902 onto the three-dimensional coordinates of the three-dimensional media plane of the three-dimensional venue 904. When performed by one or more computing devices, processors, controllers, or (one or more) electrical, mechanical, and / or electromechanical devices that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art, the kernel-based sampling technique 900 can mathematically transform the two-dimensional coordinates of the pixels 906.1 to 906.m of the image 902 onto the three-dimensional coordinates of the pixels 908.1 to 908.n of the three-dimensional media plane, as will be further described in detail below. In some embodiments, the kernel-based sampling technique 900 can represent an exemplary embodiment of the kernel-based sampling technique 800 as described above Figure 8 therein. Thus, the kernel-based sampling technique 900, as will be further described in detail below, shares many substantially similar features with the kernel-based sampling technique 800 as described above Figure 8 therein; thus, only the differences between the kernel-based sampling technique 800 and the kernel-based sampling technique 900 will be further described in detail below.

[0078] As Figure 9 shown therein, in a manner similar to that above Figure 8In a manner substantially similar to the kernel-based sampling technique 800 described in, the kernel-based sampling technique 900 can project the three-dimensional coordinates pos.x, pos.y, and pos.z of the pixels 908.1 to 908.n of the three-dimensional media plane onto the two-dimensional space of the image 902 to effectively transform the three-dimensional coordinates pos.x, pos.y, and pos.z of the pixels 908.1 to 908.n into the two-dimensional coordinates uv.x, uv.y of the two-dimensional points 910.1 to 910.n projected onto the two-dimensional space of the image 902.

[0079] After projecting the three-dimensional coordinates pos.x, pos.y, and pos.z of the projected pixels 908.1 to 908.n, in a manner substantially similar to the kernel-based sampling technique 800 described above Figure 8 the kernel-based sampling technique 900 performs statistical interpolation on the color information of the three-dimensional media plane in the image 902 (for example, the luminance and / or chrominance components of the YUV color model and / or the red, green, and / or blue components of the RGB color model). However, as Figure 9 shown in, the pixels 906.1 to 906.m near the two-dimensional points 910.1 to 910.n can be located within the regions of interest (ROIs) (also referred to as sampling kernel spaces) 912.1 to 912.r of the image 902. As Figure 9 shown in, the two-dimensional point 910.1 corresponding to the pixel 908.1 can be located within the sampling kernel space 912.1, the two-dimensional point 910.a corresponding to the pixel 908.a can be located within the sampling kernel space 912.b, and / or the two-dimensional point 910.n corresponding to the pixel 908.n can be located within the sampling kernel space 912.n.

[0080] In Figure 9 the exemplary embodiment shown in, the two-dimensional area of the sampling kernel spaces 912.1 to 912.r can be related to the distances between the pixels 908.1 to 908.n of the three-dimensional media plane. As Figure 9As shown, pixels 908.1 to 908.n can be positioned along circles or slices 914.1 to 914.s of a three-dimensional media plane. In some embodiments, the vertical distance between adjacent slices among slices 914.1 to 914.s is substantially the same from the top to the bottom of the three-dimensional media plane. However, the radial distance between adjacent pixels within the same slice among slices 914.1 to 914.s gradually increases from the top to the bottom of the three-dimensional media plane. Thus, in some embodiments, the two-dimensional area of sampling kernel spaces 912.1 to 912.r increases from the top (or crown) to the bottom (or butt) of the three-dimensional media plane. In these embodiments, the two-dimensional area of sampling kernel spaces 912.1 to 912.r has a minimum area at the top of the three-dimensional media plane and a maximum area at the bottom of the three-dimensional media plane. For example, from the top to the bottom of the three-dimensional media plane, the horizontal distance of sampling kernel spaces 912.1 to 912.r increases while the vertical distance of sampling kernel spaces 912.1 to 912.r remains approximately the same.

[0081] After identifying pixels 906.1 to 906.m within sampling kernel spaces 912.1 to 912.r, in a manner substantially similar to the kernel-based sampling technique 800 described above Figure 8 the kernel-based sampling technique 900 can weight the color information of these pixels (e.g., the luminance and / or chrominance components of the YUV color model and the red, green, and / or blue components of the RGB color model, for example). And once the color information of pixels 906.1 to 906.m within sampling kernel spaces 912.1 to 912.r has been weighted, the kernel-based sampling technique 900 can accumulate the weighted color information of these pixels in a manner substantially similar to the kernel-based sampling technique 800 described above Figure 8 to statistically interpolate the color information of pixels 908.1 to 908.n.

[0082] Exemplary computer system that can be implemented within an exemplary image capture system and / or an exemplary image projection system System

[0083] Figure 10 Illustrated is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary computer system that can be implemented within an exemplary image capture system and / or an exemplary image projection system in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The following discussion of Figure 10 is intended to describe the computer system 1000 that can be implemented within the exemplary image capture system described above Figure 2A and / or the exemplary image projection system described above Figure 6 .

[0084] In Figure 10In the exemplary embodiments shown, computer system 1000 includes one or more processors 1002. In some embodiments, one or more processors 1002 may include or may be any one of a microprocessor, a graphics processing unit, or a digital signal processor and their electronic processing equivalents (such as an application specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) or a field programmable gate array (“FPGA”)). As used herein, the term “processor” refers to a tangible data and information processing device that typically physically transforms data and information using sequential transformations (also referred to as “operations”). Data and information may be physically represented by electrical, magnetic, optical, or acoustic signals that can be stored, accessed, transmitted, combined, compared, or otherwise manipulated by the processor. The term “processor” may refer to a single processor and a multi-core system or a multi-processor array, including a graphics processing unit, a digital signal processor, a digital processor, or a combination of these elements. The processor may be electronic, e.g., including digital logic circuitry (e.g., binary logic) or may be analog (e.g., an operational amplifier). The processor may also operate to support performing related operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as “software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a set of processors available in a distributed or remote system that can be accessed via a communication network (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more software interfaces (e.g., an application programming interface (API)). In some embodiments, computer system 1000 may include an operating system such as Microsoft's Windows, Sun Microsystems' Solaris, Apple Computer's MacOS, Linux, or UNIX. In some embodiments, computer system 1000 may also include a basic input / output system (BIOS) and processor firmware. The one or more processors 1002 use the operating system, BIOS, and firmware to control subsystems and interfaces coupled to the one or more processors 1002. In some embodiments, one or more processors 1002 may include Intel's Pentium and Itanium, Advanced Micro Devices' Opteron and Athlon, and ARM Holdings' ARM processors.

[0085] As Figure 10As shown, computer system 1000 may include machine-readable medium 1004. In some embodiments, machine-readable medium 1004 may further include main random access memory (“RAM”) 1006, read-only memory (“ROM”) 1008, and / or file storage subsystem 1010. RAM 1030 may store instructions and data during program execution, while ROM 1032 may store fixed instructions. File storage subsystem 1010 provides persistent storage for program and data files and may include a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive and its associated removable media, a CD-ROM drive, an optical disk drive, flash memory, or a removable media cartridge.

[0086] Computer system 1000 may also include user interface input device 1012 and user interface output device 1014. By way of example, user interface input device 1012 may include an alphanumeric keyboard, a numeric keypad, a pointing device such as a mouse, trackball, touchpad, stylus, or graphics tablet, a scanner, a touchscreen integrated into a display, an audio input device such as a voice recognition system or microphone, eye movement recognition, brain wave pattern recognition, and other types of input devices. User interface input device 1012 may be connected to computer system 1000 by wire or wirelessly. Generally speaking, user interface input device 1012 is intended to include all possible types of devices and means for inputting information into computer system 1000. User interface input device 1012 typically allows a user to identify objects, icons, text, etc. that appear on some type of user interface output device (e.g., a display subsystem). User interface output device 1020 may include a display subsystem, a printer, a fax machine, or a non-visual display (such as an audio output device). The display subsystem may include a cathode ray tube (CRT), a flat panel device (such as a liquid crystal display (LCD)), a projection device, or some other device for creating a visible image (such as a virtual reality system). The display subsystem may also provide a non-visual display, such as via an audio output or a haptic output (e.g., vibration) device. Generally speaking, user interface output device 1020 is intended to include all possible types of devices and means for outputting information from computer system 1000.

[0087] The computer system 1000 may also include a network interface 1016 to provide an interface to an external network, including an interface to a communication network 1018, and be coupled via the communication network 1018 to a corresponding interface device in other computer systems or machines. The communication network 1018 may include many interconnected computer systems, machines, and communication links. These communication links may be wired links, optical links, wireless links, or any other device for information communication. The communication network 1018 may be any suitable computer network, such as a wide area network (such as the Internet) and / or a local area network (such as Ethernet). The communication network 1018 may be wired and / or wireless, and the communication network may use encryption and decryption methods, such as those provided by a virtual private network. The communication network uses one or more communication interfaces, which may receive data from other systems and send data to other systems. Examples of communication interfaces typically include Ethernet network cards, modems (e.g., telephone, satellite, cable, or ISDN), (asynchronous) digital subscriber line (DSL) units, FireWire interfaces, USB interfaces, etc. One or more communication protocols may be used, such as HTTP, TCP / IP, RTP / RTSP, IPX, and / or UDP.

[0088] As Figure 10 shown, one or more processors 1002, machine-readable media 1004, user interface input devices 1012, user interface output devices 1014, and / or network interfaces 1016 may be communicatively coupled to each other using a bus subsystem 1020. Although the bus subsystem 1020 is schematically shown as a single bus, alternative embodiments of the bus subsystem may use multiple buses. For example, the main memory based on RAM may communicate directly with the file storage system using a direct memory access (“DMA”) system.

[0089] Conclusion

[0090] The detailed description illustrates exemplary embodiments consistent with the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings. References in this disclosure to “exemplary embodiments” indicate that the described exemplary embodiments may include particular features, structures, or characteristics, but each exemplary embodiment may not necessarily include that particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same exemplary embodiment. Additionally, any feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an exemplary embodiment may be included independently or in any combination with features, structures, or characteristics of other exemplary embodiments, whether or not explicitly described.

[0091] The detailed description is not meant to be limiting. On the contrary, the scope of the present disclosure is defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents. It should be recognized that the detailed description section, rather than the abstract section, is intended to be used to interpret the claims. The abstract section may set forth one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, but not all exemplary embodiments, and is thus not intended to limit the present disclosure and the appended claims and their equivalents in any way.

[0092] The exemplary embodiments described in the present disclosure are provided for illustrative purposes and are not intended to be limiting. Other exemplary embodiments are possible and the exemplary embodiments can be modified while remaining within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. The present disclosure has been described with the aid of functional building blocks that illustrate the implementation of specific functions and their relationships. For ease of description, the boundaries of these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein. Alternative boundaries can be defined as long as the specified functions and their relationships are appropriately performed.

[0093] Embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in hardware, firmware, software applications, or any combination thereof. Embodiments of the present disclosure can also be implemented as instructions stored on a machine-readable medium that can be read and executed by one or more processors. The machine-readable medium can include any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., computing circuitry). For example, the machine-readable medium can include non-transitory machine-readable media such as read-only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash devices; and others. As another example, the machine-readable medium can include transitory machine-readable media such as electrical, optical, acoustic, or other forms of propagated signals (e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.). Additionally, firmware, software applications, routines, instructions can be described herein as performing certain actions. However, it should be recognized that such descriptions are merely for convenience and that such actions are actually generated by a computing device, processor, controller, or other device that executes the firmware, software application, routine, instruction, etc.

[0094] The detailed description of the exemplary embodiments fully reveals the general nature of the present disclosure, and others can, without undue experimentation, easily modify and / or adapt various applications such as the exemplary embodiments by applying the knowledge of those skilled in the relevant art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, such adaptations and modifications are intended to be within the meaning and multiple equivalents of the exemplary embodiments based on the teachings and guidance presented herein. It should be understood that the language or terms herein are for descriptive purposes and not restrictive, such that the terms or language of this specification should be interpreted by those skilled in the relevant art in light of the teachings herein.

Claims

1. An image capture system, comprising: A camera lens system configured to: Capture light related to an image within the field of view of the camera lens system, Steer the center of the camera lens system towards the periphery of the image sensor to direct the light towards the periphery of the image sensor, and Focus the light captured by the camera lens system to be non-uniformly distributed around the periphery of the image sensor onto the image sensor; A camera assembly including an image sensor configured to capture the light focused onto the image sensor by the camera lens system to provide a digital image signal related to the image; And An image recording system configured to store the digital image signal.

2. The image capture system according to claim 1, wherein the camera lens system is configured to steer the center of the camera lens system such that when the image is projected onto a venue, the highest optical image quality of the image lies within the three-dimensional media plane within the venue.

3. The image capture system according to claim 1, wherein the camera lens system includes an ultra-wide-angle lens having a field of view between approximately one hundred (100) degrees and approximately one hundred and eighty (180) degrees.

4. The image capture system according to claim 1, wherein the camera lens system includes a perspective control lens configured to tilt, shift, or rotate the center of the camera lens system relative to the image sensor to steer the center of the camera lens system towards the periphery of the image sensor.

5. The image capture system according to claim 1, wherein the camera lens system is configured to focus light onto the image sensor such that it is more concentrated at the periphery of the image sensor compared to the center of the image sensor.

6. The image capture system according to claim 5, wherein the camera lens system is configured to concentrate the light to a first pixel density at the periphery of the image sensor and gradually transition to a second pixel density at the center of the image sensor.

7. The image capture system according to claim 1, wherein the image sensor includes a color sensor, and the color sensor includes a color mask configured to absorb unwanted color wavelengths such that each pixel of the image sensor is sensitive to a specific color wavelength.

8. A camera lens system, comprising: A camera lens system configured to capture light related to an image within the field of view of the camera lens system; And A camera lens housing configured to: Steer the center of the camera lens system towards the periphery of the image sensor of the camera assembly to direct the light captured by the center of the camera lens system towards the periphery of the image sensor, and Focus the light captured by the camera lens system to be non-uniformly distributed around the periphery of the image sensor onto the image sensor.

9. The camera lens system according to claim 8, wherein the camera lens system is configured to steer the center of the camera lens system such that when the image is projected onto a venue, the highest optical image quality of the image lies within the three-dimensional media plane within the venue.

10. The camera lens system according to claim 8, wherein the camera lens system includes an ultra-wide-angle lens having a field of view between approximately one hundred (100) degrees and approximately one hundred and eighty (180) degrees.

11. The camera lens system according to claim 10, wherein the ultra-wide-angle lens includes a fish-eye lens.

12. The camera lens system according to claim 8, wherein the camera lens housing includes a view angle control lens configured to tilt, shift, or rotate the center of the camera lens system relative to the image sensor to turn the center of the camera lens system toward the periphery of the image sensor.

13. The camera lens system according to claim 8, wherein the camera lens housing is configured to focus light onto the image sensor such that more light is concentrated on the periphery of the image sensor compared to the center of the image sensor.

14. An image capture system, comprising: a camera lens system configured to: capture light related to an image within the field of view of the camera lens system, turn the center of the camera lens system toward the periphery of an image sensor of a camera assembly to direct light captured by the center of the camera lens system toward the periphery of the image sensor, and focus the light captured by the camera lens system to be non-uniformly distributed onto the image sensor around the periphery of the image sensor; a camera assembly configured to capture the light focused by the camera lens system onto the image sensor to provide a digital image signal related to the image; and an image recording system configured to store the digital image signal.

15. The image capture system according to claim 14, wherein the camera lens system is configured to turn the center of the camera lens system such that when the image is projected onto a venue, the highest optical image quality of the image lies within the interior of a three-dimensional media plane within the venue.

16. The image capture system according to claim 14, wherein the camera lens system includes an ultra-wide-angle lens having a field of view between approximately one hundred (100) degrees and approximately one hundred eighty (180) degrees.

17. The image capture system according to claim 14, wherein the camera lens system includes a view angle control lens configured to tilt, shift, or rotate the center of the camera lens system relative to the image sensor to turn the center of the camera lens system toward the periphery of the image sensor.

18. The image capture system according to claim 14, wherein the camera lens system is configured to focus light onto the image sensor such that more light is concentrated on the periphery of the image sensor compared to the center of the image sensor.

19. The image capture system according to claim 14, wherein the image sensor includes a color sensor, and the color sensor includes a color mask configured to absorb unwanted color wavelengths such that each pixel of the image sensor is sensitive to a specific color wavelength.

20. The image capture system according to claim 14, wherein the image recording system is configured to store the digital image signal as a raw camera image file having the irradiance characteristics of the light captured by the image capture system.

21. An image processing server for transforming an image for projection onto a media plane of a venue, the image processor comprising: a memory configured to store instructions; and a processor configured to execute the instructions, the instructions when executed by the processor configuring the processor to: Projecting the three-dimensional coordinates of a plurality of pixels of a media plane onto the two-dimensional coordinates of the image space of an image to provide a plurality of two-dimensional points projected onto the image, Interpolating the color information of the plurality of pixels of the media plane based on the color information of the plurality of pixels of the image, and Providing the color information of the plurality of pixels to a venue to project the image onto the media plane.

22. The image processing server according to claim 21, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, further configure the processor to reconstruct the image from one or more digital image signals associated with the image.

23. The image processing server according to claim 21, wherein the color information of the plurality of pixels includes the luminance and chrominance components of the YUV color model or the red, green, and blue components of the RGB color model.

24. The image processing server according to claim 21, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, configure the processor to interpolate the color information of the pixels of the media plane among the plurality of pixels of the media plane by weighting and accumulating the color information of the plurality of pixels of the image within a sample kernel space among a plurality of sample kernel spaces of the image.

25. The image processing server according to claim 24, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, configure the processor to weight the color information of the plurality of pixels of the image within the sample kernel space according to a probability density function.

26. The image processing server according to claim 24, wherein the plurality of sample kernel spaces include a first sample kernel space having a two-dimensional area smaller than a second sample kernel space, and wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, configure the processor to weight the color information of the plurality of pixels of the image within the first sample kernel space when a pixel of the media plane is closer to the top of the media plane, or to weight the color information of the plurality of pixels of the image within the second sample kernel space when a pixel of the media plane is closer to the bottom of the media plane.

27. The image processing server according to claim 26, wherein the first sample kernel space includes a circle, and wherein the second sample kernel space is related to the Rosenbrock function.

28. A method for transforming an image to project onto a media plane of a venue, the method comprising: Projecting, by a computer system, the three-dimensional coordinates of a plurality of pixels of a media plane onto the two-dimensional coordinates of the image space of an image to provide a plurality of two-dimensional points projected onto the image; Interpolating, by the computer system, the color information of the plurality of pixels of the media plane based on the color information of the plurality of pixels of the image; And Providing, by the computer system, the color information of the plurality of pixels to a venue to project the image onto the media plane.

29. The method according to claim 28, further comprising reconstructing, by the computer system, the image from one or more digital image signals associated with the image.

30. The method according to claim 28, wherein the color information of the plurality of pixels includes the luminance and chrominance components of the YUV color model or the red, green, and blue components of the RGB color model.

31. The method according to claim 28, wherein the interpolation includes interpolating the color information of the pixels of the media plane among the plurality of pixels of the media plane by weighting and accumulating the color information of the plurality of pixels of the image within a sample kernel space among the plurality of sample kernel spaces of the image.

32. The image processing server according to claim 31, wherein the interpolation further includes weighting the color information of the plurality of pixels of the image within the sample kernel space according to a probability density function.

33. The image processing server according to claim 31, wherein the plurality of sample kernel spaces includes a first sample kernel space having a two-dimensional area smaller than that of a second sample kernel space, and wherein the interpolation further includes weighting the color information of the plurality of pixels of the image within the first sample kernel space when the pixel of the media plane is closer to the top of the media plane, or weighting the color information of the plurality of pixels of the image within the second sample kernel space when the pixel of the media plane is closer to the bottom of the media plane.

34. The image processing server according to claim 33, wherein the first sample kernel space includes a circle, and wherein the second sample kernel space is related to the Rosenbrock function.

35. An image processing system for transforming an image to be projected onto a media plane of a venue, the image processor system an image recording system configured to store one or more digital image signals associated with the image; and an image processing server configured to: reconstruct the image from the one or more digital image signals, project the three-dimensional coordinates of the plurality of pixels of the media plane onto the two-dimensional coordinates of the image space of the image to provide a plurality of two-dimensional points projected onto the image, interpolate the color information of the plurality of pixels of the media plane based on the color information of the plurality of pixels of the image, and provide the color information of the plurality of pixels to the venue to project the image onto the media plane.

36. The image processing system according to claim 35, wherein the color information of the plurality of pixels includes the luminance and chrominance components of the YUV color model or the red, green, and blue components of the RGB color model.

37. The image processing system according to claim 35, wherein the image processing server is configured to interpolate the color information of the pixels of the media plane among the plurality of pixels of the media plane by weighting and accumulating the color information of the plurality of pixels of the image within a sample kernel space among the plurality of sample kernel spaces of the image.

38. The image processing system according to claim 37, wherein the image processing server is configured to weight the color information of the plurality of pixels of the image within the sample kernel space according to a probability density function.

39. The image processing system according to claim 37, wherein the plurality of sample kernel spaces includes a first sample kernel space having a two-dimensional area smaller than that of a second sample kernel space, and The image processing server is configured to weight the color information of the plurality of pixels of the image located within the first sample kernel space when the pixels of the media plane are closer to the top of the media plane, or to weight the color information of the plurality of pixels of the image located within the second sample kernel space when the pixels of the media plane are closer to the bottom of the media plane.

40. The image processing system according to claim 39, wherein the first sample kernel space includes a circle, and wherein the second sample kernel space is related to the Rosenbrock function.

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