753 results about "Stereoscopic imaging" patented technology

Systems and methods for stereo imaging with camera arrays in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of generating depth information for an object using two or more array cameras that each include a plurality of imagers includes obtaining a first set of image data captured from a first set of viewpoints, identifying an object in the first set of image data, determining a first depth measurement, determining whether the first depth measurement is above a threshold, and when the depth is above the threshold: obtaining a second set of image data of the same scene from a second set of viewpoints located known distances from one viewpoint in the first set of viewpoints, identifying the object in the second set of image data, and determining a second depth measurement using the first set of image data and the second set of image data.

A stereoscopic imaging system incorporates a plurality of imaging devices or cameras to generate a high resolution, wide field of view image database from which images can be combined in real time to provide wide field of view or panoramic or omni-directional still or video images.

This invention relates to a stereo imaging system for use in telerobotic systems. A method of imaging a target site in a stereo imaging system is provided. The method typically includes capturing a right and a left optical image of the target site and transforming the right and the left optical images preferably into digital information. The method further includes converting the digital information into opposed images of the target site displayed on a stereo display of the stereo imaging system, one of the opposed images being associated with the right optical image and the other of the opposed images being associated with the left optical image. The method further includes regulating the digital information to cause the positions of the target site displayed on the opposed images to change relative to each other. The invention further provides for a method of aligning the opposed images, to a method of adjusting the stereo working distance of an image capture device, such as an endoscope and to a stereo imaging system.

Provided is a surgical instrument comprising a node rotatably mounted within a restraining structure at the distal end of a shaft, The node can be rotated allowing manipulation and orientation of a surgical tool extending from the node at the distal end of the shaft through control remote from the distal end of the shaft. Cameras may also be located at the distal end of the shaft allowing stereoscopic imaging to be conveyed to an operator. The surgical instrument is well suited for administering biologically active substances to a desired location. The method of administration comprises insertion of a flexible shaft comprising a channel, controlling the location of the distal end of the shaft through control cables within the shaft, and projecting the biologically active substance from the end of the channel at the desired location.

A method and system for presenting both autostereoscopic images and planar images in a single display is disclosed. The design comprises processing the planar images received in the form of planar image data. The processing comprises at least one from a group comprising selectively employing bleed-through processing to enhance the planar image data when viewed through a lens sheet comprising slanted lenticules, selectively introducing blurring into the planar image data, and selectively employing anti-alias processing to the planar image data. Certain super pixels may be computed that differ from standard pixels, and lenticules in the data sheet may be slanted at desired angles. The physical lenticules may cause bleed-through that may be processed. Resolution may be computed after processing, and the resolution implemented for display. Mode switching between planar and autostereoscopic imaging may be provided in the form of Metadata or visible flags.

A stereoscopic imaging apparatus (200) has an illumination source (110) providing polarized illumination beams and at least one uniformizing element (22) for uniformizing first and second illumination beams. A left channel modulation apparatus (220l) modulates the first polarized illumination beam to provide the left eye portion of the stereoscopic image and a right channel modulation apparatus (220r) modulates the second polarized illumination beam to provide the right eye portion. Each channel modulation apparatus has a color separator (78) for separating the polarized illumination beam into at least a first component wavelength illumination and a second component wavelength illumination. Each channel modulation apparatus also has at least two component wavelength modulating sections, each component wavelength modulating section being a portion of a monochrome transmissive liquid crystal modulator panel (60) that accepts a corresponding component wavelength illumination and modulates the component wavelength illumination to provide a modulated component wavelength beam.

A stereo imaging system comprises a stereoscopic camera having left and right image capturing elements for capturing stereo images; a stereo viewer; and a processor configured to modify the stereo images prior to being displayed on the stereo viewer so that a disparity between corresponding points of the stereo images is adjusted as a function of a depth value within a region of interest in the stereo images after the depth value reaches a target depth value.

A convergence prism assembly with a housing and a prism structure having a plurality of prisms mounted in a unitary assembly.

A method of assisting a driver in aligning a vehicle hitch with a trailer hitch and electronic trailer alignment system includes providing a stereoscopic-imaging system and positioning the imaging system at one of the vehicle hitch or the trailer hitch. The imaging system includes at least two image sensors. At least two different images of a surface at the other of the vehicle hitch or the trailer hitch are captured with the at least two image sensors. Position data is captured from the at least two different images of the surface at the other of the vehicle hitch or the trailer hitch. The position data defines a position of the other of the vehicle hitch or the trailer hitch with respect to the one of the vehicle hitch or the trailer hitch. Steering data that will cause the vehicle hitch to approach the position of the trailer hitch is determined.

In a stereoscopic imaging device including a plurality of imaging optical systems, a wide-image in which a principal subject is shifted from the center is taken, and also, a tele-image in which the principal subject is enlarged is taken at the same time. A size of a wide-side frame W, that is, a size of an angle of view of a trimming wide-image is decided based on a size of a tele-side frame T, that is, a zoom magnification of a tele-side imaging optical system, a position of the wide-side frame W displayed in the decided size is arbitrarily moved depending on an instruction from an operation unit, an area delimited by the wide-side frame W moved to any position is clipped from a default wide-image, and thereby, the trimming wide-image is obtained. Thereby, the tele-image which is a telephoto image in which a desired subject is zoomed, and the trimming wide-image which is a wide-angle image in which the subject can exist at a position other than the center of the image are simultaneously obtained.

A stereoscopic display system employs narrowband illumination light beams and passive glasses with built-in interference filters. The system is also compatible with multiple viewing functions.

In one aspect, the present invention provides an imaging system for multiple view imaging. Multiple view imaging comprises, but is not limited to, stereoscopic imaging. The imaging system for multiple view imaging comprises at least two video processing devices, each of the video processing devices being for displaying a video image on one or more display devices. Each video processing device receives at least a first sequence of image frames comprising at least second sequence of image frames and a third sequence of image frames, the at least second and third sequences being for generating at least first and second video images, respectively. Each video processing device outputs at least a fourth sequence of image frames, the fourth sequences being for generating at least one of the first or second video images, the fourth sequences of image frames from the first and second video processing devices being asynchronous with respect to each other. The imaging system is adapted to generate a linking signal for synchronising images displayed by the at least first and second video processing devices on the one or more display devices. In other aspects, the present invention provides a method for performing multiple view imaging by means of at least two video processing devices, and a controller for controlling the operation of at least two video processing devices in an imaging system for displaying multiple view images.

A method and configuration to estimate the dimensions of a cuboid. The configuration includes two image acquisition units offset from each other with at least one of the units positioned at a defined acquisition height above a background surface. Image processing techniques are used to extract a perimeter of a top surface of the cuboid, placed on the background surface, from pairs of acquired images. A height estimation technique, which corrects for spatial drift of the configuration, is used to calculate an absolute height of the cuboid. The absolute height of the cuboid is used, along with the extracted perimeter of the top surface of the cuboid, to calculate an absolute length and an absolute width of the cuboid. The height, length, and width may be used to calculate an estimated volume of the cuboid.

An improved apparatus is disclosed for providing a stereoscopic image for viewing by a viewer, with improved resolution. The apparatus includes a generally planar display comprising a two-dimensional array of uniformly spaced pixels, and it further includes a generally planar parallax barrier having an area substantially coextensive with the display and spaced a prescribed uniform distance from the display. The pixel array includes a first set of sub-pixels controllable to project light in a first spectral color, a second set of sub-pixels controllable to project light in a second spectral color, and a third set of sub-pixels controllable to project light in a third spectral color, and the parallax barrier includes a repeating pattern of vertically oriented regions configured to transmit light to the viewer's first eye along light paths defined from only the first set of sub-pixels and to transmit light to the viewer's second eye along light paths defined from only the second and third sets of sub-pixels.

A system of stereo imagers, including image processing units and methods of blurring an image, is presented. The image is received from an image sensor. For each pixel of the image, a depth filter component is determined based on a focal area of the image and a depth map associated with the image. For each pixel of the image, a trilateral filter is generated that includes a spatial filter component, a range filter component and the depth filter component. The respective trilateral filter is applied to corresponding pixels of the image to blur the image outside of the focal area. A refocus area or position may be determined by imaging geometry or may be selected manually via a user interface.

An imaging system and methods for using an imaging system where the operator is able to variably adjust the parallax distance for enhanced stereo performance are disclosed. In addition, by coordinating the parallax distance with the optical settings of the camera, artificial 3D experiences can be created that give a user the perception of observing a scene from a distance different than that actually employed. The imaging system may also include a plurality of stereo camera supersets, wherein a first one or more stereo camera supersets are positioned at a different height relative to a first stereo camera superset. Novel specific uses of the camera system, such as in capturing events of interest are described. Useful techniques for extracting or encoding wide field of view images from memory are also disclosed.

A stereo imaging device on a propelled portion of the receiving vehicle collects image data. A container identification module identifies a container perimeter of a storage portion in the collected image data. A spout identification module is adapted to identify a spout of the harvesting vehicle in the collected image data. An alignment module is adapted to determine the relative position of the spout and the container perimeter and to generate command data to the propelled portion to steer the storage portion in cooperative alignment such that the spout is aligned within a central zone or target zone of the container perimeter. A steering controller is associated with a steering system of the propelled portion for steering the receiving vehicle in accordance with the cooperative alignment.

A system and method for stereoscopic image capture. The method includes capturing a first image with a first camera and capturing a second image with a second camera. The second camera comprises a lower resolution sensor than a sensor of the first camera. The method further includes determining a third image based on adjusting the first image to a resolution of the lower resolution sensor of the second camera and generating a stereoscopic image comprising the second image and the third image.

A holographic see-through optical device, a stereoscopic imaging system including the same, and a multimedia head mounted system are provided. The holographic see-through optical device includes a micro display; a relay optical system, which relays an image generated by the micro display; at least one waveguide comprising at least two portions having different thicknesses or different refractive indexes; at least one first holographic optical element, which is arranged at one of the two portions; and at least one second holographic optical element, which is arranged at the other one of the two portions.

A stereoscopic imaging system incorporates a plurality of imaging devices or cameras to generate a high resolution, wide field of view image database from which images can be combined in real time to provide wide field of view or panoramic or omni-directional still or video images.

A stereoscopic imaging system for generating stereoscopic images includes a pair of cameras juxtaposed with each other in a horizontal plane each capturing a stream of video images. A controller is provided for controlling motion of each camera, determining presence of a vertical parallax between the images from each camera and converting such first and second video signal into said stereoscopic image of such object. A drive apparatus is provided for linearly moving one camera and for rotating the other camera in response to at least one control signal received from the controller thereby correcting for determined vertical parallax presence. The novel drive apparatus includes an electrically powered linear drive mechanism for moving the first camera and an electrically powered motor and gear arrangement for rotating the second camera. The images are analyzed in a generally real-time manner and image capture and generation is not blocked during analysis.

Three-dimensional imaging of a breast tissue is achieved by acquiring a series of X-ray projection images from various angles. A three-dimensional image constructed from the projection images by a computer provides information to the operator to select a coordinate point within the breast from which to obtain a biopsy sample. Acquisition of projection images and construction of three-dimensional images is continued during the insertion of the needle into the breast, during positioning the needle towards the coordinate point, during the sampling and after the sampling. The advantages of utilizing tomosynthesis for breast tissue imaging over stereo imaging include better image quality, easier coordinate measurements within a tissue, ease of use of the equipment by the medical personnel, and fewer image artifact problems.

A stereo imaging based vision system to monitor the area on the two sides of either a door and control door motion according to the motion of 3D objects in the viewing area. The system calibrated to provide heights above the ground plane for any point in the field of view. Therefore, when any object enters the field of view, it generates interest points called “features”, the heights of which are measured relative to the ground plane. These points are then clustered in 3D space to provide “objects”. These objects are then tracked in multiple frames to provide “trajectories”. Such a system could then control the door motion (open, close, stall) based on the various pieces of information generated about the object.

The invention relates to a virtual viewpoint rendering method, which belongs to the field of image processing and stereo imaging and can achieve high-quality virtual viewpoint rendering. The technical scheme adopted by the virtual viewpoint rendering method comprises the following steps: (1) preprocessing depth maps; (3) performing image fusion on the two virtual viewpoint images by using distance weighted values, eliminating most of hollows and producing a fusional initial virtual view; and (4) filling the hollows of the initial virtual view by a method on the basis of figure-ground segregation and obtaining a final virtual viewpoint image. The virtual viewpoint rendering method is mainly applicable to image processing and stereo imaging.

The invention belongs to the image processing field and provides a novel three-dimensional image quality evaluation method, which can evaluate three-dimensional image quality more accurately and efficiently, and meanwhile, promote development of the stereoscopic imaging technique in a certain extent. According to the technical scheme, the 3D image quality measurement method based on deep learningis characterized by, to begin with, carrying out block segmentation processing on a stereo image data set to obtain a plurality of image blocks, and then, carrying out normalization processing on eachimage block; meanwhile, carrying out principal component analysis (PCA) dimension reduction processing on the stereo image data set to obtain lower-dimension images; then, sending an image block dataset obtained after block segmentation processing and a low-dimension data set obtained after PCA dimension reduction processing to a constructed convolutional neural network; extracting features layer by layer through the convolutional neural network; and finally, obtaining overall quality of the stereo images through a softmax classifier. The method is mainly used for image processing.

An apparatus (10) includes a device for acquiring a plurality of images of an identical subject taken from a plurality of viewpoints; a device for selecting a prescribed image as a reference image, selecting an image other than the reference image as a target image from among the images, and detecting feature points from the reference image and corresponding points from the target image to generate pairs of the feature point and corresponding point, wherein feature of the feature point and the corresponding point in the same pair are substantially identical; a device for estimating geometrical transformation parameters for geometrically-transforming the target image such that y-coordinate values of the feature point and the corresponding point included in the same pair are substantially identical, wherein y-direction is orthogonal to a parallax direction of the viewpoints; and a device for geometrically-transforming the target image based on the parameters.

The invention provides an electrochromic module and a three-dimensional imaging display device provided with the same. The electrochromic module comprises a first substrate, a second substrate, at least one electrochromic layer and at least one ionic layer. At least one first conducting element is arranged on the upper surface of the first substrate. The electrochromic layer is arranged between the first substrate and the second substrate. The ionic layer is arranged on the surface of the electrochromic layer and is prepared by dissolving a material which is mixed with an organic material and an inorganic material into a solvent. The ionic layer not only can be used as an ion supplier and is also an electrochromic material, so that the ionic layer can be used an auxiliary discoloring layer to improve the differential value of the optical penetrability. In the invention, by the transferring and the transmission of the ions between the organic material and the inorganic material, the electrochromic module and the three-dimensional imaging display device have the advantages of high and uniform discoloring speed, lower driving voltage and the like.

The present invention relates to a multi-viewpoint tridimensional image synthesis method based on a raster LCD auto-stereoscopic display, which belongs to the field of raster auto-stereoscopic imaging technology. The method includes three steps; firstly, the method determines one subpixel on a LCD screen belongs to which raster unit control range; secondly, according to the arrangement of the subpixels of each raster unit, the view of each viewpoint is subsampled; thirdly, the subsampled image information of each viewpoint is arranged to compose an auto-stereoscopic display image. By the embodiment of the present invention, good synthesis effect and stereoscopic impressions can be obtained, and the subjective evaluation of several observers further verifies the validity of the universal synthesis method. The universal multi-viewpoint tridimensional image synthesis method can be widely applied to raster LCD multi-viewpoint auto-stereoscopic display devices and help to promote the industrialization of the devices.