Spherical Panorama Stitching via Virtual Plane Projection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Three-dimensional spherical panorama stitching technologies face issues with ghosting and object warping due to parallax changes and brightness inconsistencies between images captured by radially designed panoramic cameras, which affect the accuracy of optical flow estimation and interpolation.
Innovation Solution
An electronic apparatus with a processor, storage medium, and transceiver is used to project images onto a virtual spherical plane, perform image enhancement, calculate optical flow, and generate a three-dimensional spherical panorama, incorporating modules for data collection, correction, pre-processing, optical flow calculation, and post-processing to reduce ghosting and object warping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If images are captured by radially designed panoramic cameras to achieve three-dimensional spherical panorama, then the viewing coverage and immersion experience are improved, but ghosting and object warping occur due to parallax changes and brightness inconsistencies
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by projecting images onto a virtual spherical plane before stitching, and by pre-calculating optical flow between adjacent images. This preliminary projection and optical flow calculation enable the system to compensate for parallax changes and brightness inconsistencies before the actual stitching operation, thereby reducing ghosting and object warping while maintaining the wide viewing coverage provided by radial camera design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a virtual spherical plane as an intermediary for image projection and optical flow calculation. This intermediary spherical coordinate system serves as a common reference frame that mediates between multiple images captured by radially arranged lenses, enabling accurate alignment and stitching while compensating for parallax effects and brightness variations across different viewing angles.
2Productivity
If optical flow estimation is performed directly on captured images, then the processing speed is maintained, but accuracy deteriorates due to brightness inconsistencies and parallax changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary projection of images onto a virtual spherical plane before optical flow estimation. This preliminary transformation to spherical coordinates uniformizes the brightness distribution and eliminates parallax changes across adjacent images, providing consistent input for optical flow calculation. This approach maintains processing speed while significantly improving optical flow estimation accuracy.
3Productivity
If multiple images are stitched using traditional methods, then the three-dimensional spherical panorama is generated, but ghosting and object warping affect the quality of the stitched images
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a virtual spherical plane as an intermediary coordinate system for image projection and alignment. By transforming all images to spherical coordinates before stitching, the system creates a common reference frame that accounts for the radial camera geometry, enabling accurate feature matching and seamless blending that eliminates ghosting and object warping while maintaining efficient panorama generation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary projection of all images onto the virtual spherical plane and pre-calculates optical flow before the actual stitching operation. This preliminary transformation ensures that all images are in a consistent coordinate system with uniform brightness distribution, enabling high-quality stitching without ghosting or warping artifacts.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and an electronic apparatus for stitching a three-dimensional spherical panorama are provided. The method includes: obtaining a first image and a second image; projecting the first and seconds image onto a virtual spherical plane to form a first equirectangular panorama and a second equirectangular panorama; duplicating the first equirectangular panorama to generate a third equirectangular panorama, and duplicating the second equirectangular panorama to generate a fourth equirectangular panorama; performing image enhancement on the third and fourth equirectangular panoramas to generate a first enhanced equirectangular panorama and a second enhanced equirectangular panorama; calculating an optical flow for the first and second enhanced equirectangular panoramas; generating the three-dimensional spherical panorama according to the first and second equirectangular panoramas and the optical flow. The method and the electronic apparatus for stitching the three-dimensional spherical panorama may stitch, into the three-dimensional spherical panorama, images output by a radially designed panoramic camera.