Stereoscopic cameras for the real-time acquisition of panoramic 3D images and videos

Abstract

There are different panoramic techniques to produce outstanding stereoscopic panoramas of static scenes. However, a camera configuration capable to capture omnidirectional stereoscopic snapshots and videos of dynamic scenes is still a subject of research. In this paper, two multiple-camera configurations capable to produce high-quality stereoscopic panoramas in real-time are presented. Unlike existing methods, the proposed multiple-camera systems acquire all the information necessary to render stereoscopic panoramas at once. The first configuration exploits microstereopsis arising from a narrow baseline to produce omnistereoscopic images. The second panoramic camera uses an extended baseline to produce poly-centric panoramas and to extract additional depth information, e.g., disparity and occlusion maps, which are used to synthesize stereoscopic views in arbitrary viewing directions. The results of emulating both cameras and the pros and cons of each setup are presented in this paper.