JP2006197036A - Device and method for stereoscopic image display - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain two-dimensional image information for displaying a stereoscopic image by a speedier and easier method than before and to allow an observer to observe the stereoscopic image by using the information. <P>SOLUTION: Only two-dimensional image data of a body coordinate system R are prepared for a body at a sufficient distance from an observation point and an imaging point of an image. In concrete, the position of the image is moved by the difference (H<SB>x</SB>, H<SB>y</SB>) between the point (X<SB>c1</SB>, Y<SB>c1</SB>) where the line of sight of the observer A before movement intersects an observation plane (a panel surface of an observation panel 16) and the point (X<SB>c2</SB>, Y<SB>c2</SB>) where the line of sight of an observer A' after movement intersects the observation plane (the panel surface of the observation panel 16). A stereoscopic image display device 1 displays a two-dimensional image based upon two-dimensional image data whose image position is moved. Consequently, the observer can observe the stereoscopic image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for displaying a stereoscopic image.

  Conventionally, various techniques have been proposed for displaying an image that is stereoscopically visible to the human eye (hereinafter referred to as a stereoscopic image). A typical method for displaying a stereoscopic image is to display an image for the right eye and an image for the left eye alternately in a short cycle, and these images are polarized in directions orthogonal to each other by a polarizing filter provided on the display surface. It is to let you. When an observer observes this image through glasses having change selectivity in the direction orthogonal to the left and right, only the right eye image is visible to the observer's right eye, and the left eye is only the left eye image. As a result, parallax occurs between the left and right images, and as a result, the observer sees a stereoscopic image. Furthermore, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which glasses are unnecessary by measuring the position of the observer's viewpoint using a sensor and generating and displaying a stereoscopic image corresponding to the observer's line of sight.

In the conventional technology as described above, there is a problem that it takes a lot of time to generate the two-dimensional image data for the right eye and the left eye based on the three-dimensional image data. In particular, every time the position of the viewpoint changes, such as when the observer moves or the observer changes to another observer, 2D image data must be generated and displayed from 3D image data immediately. In some cases, it is not easy to execute such a generation process quickly.
JP 2002-77946 A

  The present invention has been made under the above-described background, and obtains image data for displaying a stereoscopic image by a quicker and simpler method than before, and allows the observer to observe the stereoscopic image using this. It makes it possible.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides an input means for inputting image data, a detection means for detecting the amount of movement of the observer's viewpoint position, and movement of the viewpoint position detected by the detection means. Based on the image processing unit that translates the position of the image represented by the image data input by the input unit on a two-dimensional plane in accordance with the amount, and the image data that has been moved by the image processing unit A stereoscopic image display device comprising display means for displaying an image. According to this stereoscopic image display device, for example, an image of an object that is sufficiently far from the imaging point or observation point, such as a landscape image, the position of the image is adjusted according to the amount of movement of the observer's viewpoint position. It is possible to generate image data for a stereoscopic image only through a simple process of translating on a two-dimensional plane. Of course, the amount of generated image data is smaller than that of the prior art. Further, there is no image shift due to the movement of the observer's viewpoint position.

  In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the display means includes a display surface on which an image based on image data is displayed, and image light provided in parallel to the display surface and emitted from the display surface from the back surface to the observation surface. An observation panel that passes through, and the image processing means moves from a point of view of the observation panel displayed on the display surface from a viewpoint of the observer before the movement and a point where the line of sight intersects the panel surface of the observation panel. The position of the image represented by the image data is translated by the distance between the point of view of the observation object and the point where the line of sight of the observation target intersects the panel surface of the observation panel.

  Further, the present invention provides a step in which the stereoscopic image display device inputs image data to the device itself, a step in which the stereoscopic image display device detects an amount by which the position of the observer's viewpoint has moved, and the stereoscopic image display The apparatus translates the position of the image represented by the image data on a two-dimensional plane in accordance with the detected movement amount of the viewpoint position, and the position of the image is moved in the stereoscopic image display apparatus. And a method of displaying an image based on image data.

  The present invention also provides a display surface on which an image based on image data is displayed, and an observation panel that is provided in parallel to the display surface and transmits image light emitted from the display surface from the back toward the observation surface. A stereoscopic image display method performed by the stereoscopic image display device, the step of inputting image data to the device, the step of detecting the amount of movement of the position of the observer's viewpoint, and the observer before the movement The point of view of the observation target displayed on the display surface from the point of view intersects with the panel surface of the observation panel, and the point of view of the observation target from the point of view of the observer after intersecting the panel surface of the observation panel And a step of translating the position of the image represented by the image data by a distance between and a step of displaying an image based on the image data to which the position of the image has been moved. To provide an image display method.

Hereinafter, the best embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(1) Device Configuration FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a stereoscopic image display device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from above. Inside the housing 11, an input unit 12, an image processing unit 13, a two-dimensional information projector 14, and a display surface 15 are provided. The input unit 12 is connected to a communication network 20 such as the Internet or an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) network. When the input unit 12 receives image data transmitted from an external device (not shown) to the stereoscopic image display device 1 via the communication network 20, the input unit 12 supplies the image data to the image processing unit 13. This image data represents, for example, an image captured by a digital camera or the like. As soon as the image data is captured, the image data is transmitted from the external device connected to the digital camera to the stereoscopic image display device 1 via the communication network 20. come. In addition to this, the image data may be stored in advance as content in an external device such as a WWW server device. As shown in FIG. 2, a mobile station 40 capable of data communication, such as a mobile phone, can be connected to the input unit 12 to receive image data via the mobile communication network 30. . In this way, it is possible to transmit to the stereoscopic image display device 1 image data of a stereoscopic image captured in a mountainous area where a fixed communication network is not provided.

  The stereoscopic image display device 1 captures the observer A in front of the stereoscopic image display device 1, identifies the position of the observer's viewpoint by performing processing such as image recognition, and when the observer moves A detection device 17 for detecting the amount of movement (hereinafter referred to as viewpoint movement amount) is provided. Here, a known technique may be used for image processing for specifying the position of the observer's viewpoint from the captured image. The image processing unit 13 converts the image represented by the image data supplied from the input unit 12 into two-dimensional image data translated in parallel on the two-dimensional plane according to the viewpoint movement amount detected by the detection device 17. Is supplied to the two-dimensional information projector 14. The two-dimensional information projector 14 is a rear projection type liquid crystal projector device, for example, and displays a two-dimensional image based on the two-dimensional image data supplied from the image processing unit 13 as indicated by a dotted arrow in the figure. Project toward the back of 15.

  The display surface 15 transmits the image projected on the rear surface to the front surface side. An observation panel 16 having an area smaller than the area of the display surface 15 is provided on the front side of the housing 11 facing the observer A. The observation panel 16 is provided at a position separated from the display surface 15 by a distance l so as to be parallel to the display surface 15, and transmits image light emitted from the display surface 15 from the back surface to the observation surface. The observer A sees the image on the display surface 15 through the observation panel 16 in a state of wearing stereoscopic image glasses.

(2) Principle of displaying a stereoscopic image Next, the principle of how the stereoscopic image display device 1 displays a stereoscopic image will be described.
First, consider the relationship between the coordinate system (observer coordinate system) when viewed from the observer and the object coordinate system in which a three-dimensionally displayed object exists. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for both coordinate systems, and shows the relationship between the observer A coordinate system L and the object coordinate system R when observed from the observer A. FIG. 3 also shows the position of the viewpoint after the movement when the observer A moves in the upper right direction in the figure as indicated by the dotted arrow, as the observer A ′. The observer coordinate system is a two-dimensional coordinate system in a plane orthogonal to the observer's line of sight. In FIG. 3, since the observer A is at a position just opposite to the front of the observation panel 16, the coordinate plane of the observer A coordinate system L matches the panel plane of the observation panel 16.

On the other hand, the object coordinate system R is a three-dimensional coordinate system in which an origin and X, Y, and Z coordinate axes are provided at an arbitrary place in a three-dimensional space. The relationship between the point (X, Y, Z) in the object coordinate system R and the point (X _c , Y _c ) in the observer coordinate system where the image of the point is observed is expressed by a matrix C of 3 rows and 4 columns. can do. That is, if a point in the object coordinate system R is expressed as (X, Y, Z, 1) and a point in the observer coordinate system is expressed as (X _c , Y _c , 1), the relationship between them is expressed by equation (i). ( _Hc is a parameter). This content is described in detail in “Seiji Iguchi, Kosuke Sato, 3D image measurement, Shoshodo, 1990”.

Here, for an object (for example, a distant landscape) existing sufficiently far from the image capturing point, in FIG.
z ₁ ≒ ∞
z ₁ '≒ ∞
Z = z ₁ + z ₂ ≒ ∞
Z ′ = z ′ ₁ + z ′ ₂ ≒ ∞
Can be considered.
Here, z ₁ , z ₂ , z ′ ₁ , z ′ ₂ mean the lengths of line segments as shown in FIG. That is, z ₁ is displayed on the display surface 15 at a point where the line of sight of the observation target (point r) displayed on the display surface 15 from the viewpoint of the observer A intersects the observation surface (observer A coordinate system L). This means the distance to the observation target (point r). Z ₂ means the distance between the viewpoint of the observer A and the point where the line of sight of the observation target (point r) intersects the observation plane (observer A coordinate system L) from the viewpoint of the observer A. ing. Z ′ ₁ represents the distance between the point at which the line of sight of the observation target (point r) intersects the observation plane (observer A coordinate system L) from the viewpoint of the observer A ′ and the observation target (point r). I mean. Z ′ ₂ is the distance between the viewpoint of the observer A ′ and the point where the line of sight of the observation target (point r) intersects the observation plane (observer A coordinate system L) from the viewpoint of the observer A ′. Means.

As a result, Z≈Z ′, and the influence of Z can be ignored in the object coordinate system R. Therefore, the rotation in the object coordinate system R due to the movement of the viewpoint of the observer A should be applied to the general three-dimensional rotation formula expressed by the following equations (ii), (iii), and (iv). Can do.

Here, considering the rotation around each axis, as described above, since z ₁ ≈∞ and Z≈z ₁ , the depth Z in the object coordinate system R can be regarded as Z≈∞. Therefore, θ≈0, α≈0, β≈0, and it can be said that the rotation around each axis on the object coordinate system R has little influence on the rotation before the rotation. That is, for an object such as a landscape observed far enough away, there is no problem even if it is not converted into the three-dimensional image information of the object coordinate system R. For example, if it is a distance of several tens of meters or more from the observation point (or imaging point), it is considered that it is hardly affected by rotation, so the above “distant” is about several tens of meters from the observation point (or imaging point). It is desirable that the distance is greater than the above.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the external device that is the image data supply source prepares only two-dimensional image data in the object coordinate system R for an object sufficiently far from the observation point or imaging point of the image, and Image data is unnecessary. As a result, the generation process of the image data by the external device is simplified, and the processing time required for the generation process can be reduced. Further, the data amount of the generated image data is also smaller than the amount of two-dimensional image data obtained by converting the three-dimensional image data as in the prior art.

However, in the observer coordinate system, when the position of the observer's viewpoint moves, an area that has not been seen by the observer until then becomes visible. For example, the area F in FIG. 4 cannot be observed from the viewpoint of the observer A before the movement, but the area F can be observed from the viewpoint of the observer A ′ after the movement. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, (X, Y) in the object coordinate system R is observed at the position of (X _c1 , Y _c1 ) in the observer A coordinate system L from the viewpoint of the observer A. However, from the viewpoint of the observer A ′, the observation is made at the position (X _b , Y _b ) in the observer A ′ coordinate system L ′. When this is replaced with an observer A coordinate system L that coincides with the observation surface, (X _c2 , Y _c2 ) is obtained. That is, in the observer A coordinate system L (that is, the observation surface), a shift of (H _x , H _y ) occurs with respect to (X _c1 , Y _c1 ). H _x and H _y mean the X direction component and the Y direction component of the shift amount H = (H _x ² ₊ H _y ² ) ^1/2 , respectively. Since FIG. 4 illustrates the positional relationship on the plane parallel to the Y axis, only H _x that is the X direction component of the deviation H is shown.

Since the above-described deviation occurs, as shown in FIG. 5, the coordinates (X ′, Y ′) of the two-dimensional image data that is assumed to be the object coordinate system R are represented on the observation plane (that is, the observer A coordinate system L). It becomes necessary to convert to coordinates (X _c , Y _c ). For this purpose, the position of the viewpoint of the right eye and the left eye of the observer is specified, and the original image data can be observed with the right eye and the left eye with respect to the viewpoint positions of the right eye and the left eye. What is necessary is just to expand | deploy and project on an image.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the above problem is solved by executing the following image processing. By assuming that Z≈∞ in FIG. 5, θ = 0 (θ _x ≈0, θ _y ≈0: θ _{x and} θ _y are the X-axis direction component and Y-axis direction component of θ, respectively). That is, the direction of the line of sight of the observer A (line segment la in the figure) and the direction of the line of sight of the observer A ′ (line segment lb in the figure) can be regarded as parallel. Here, when the magnitude of the movement amount of the viewpoint position of the observer A (component parallel to the observation plane of the movement vector indicated by the dotted arrow in the figure) is S _x , the line segment la and the line segment lb are parallel. S _x ≈H _x . Therefore, it is only necessary to translate the object coordinate system (X, Y) by (H _x , H _y ). That is, the point of view (X _c1 , Y _c1 ) where the line of sight from the viewpoint of the observer A before the movement intersects the observation plane (= the panel plane of the observation panel 16) and the line of sight from the viewpoint of the observer A ′ after the movement are If the position of the image is moved by a distance H = (H _x ² ₊ H _y ² ) ^1/2 between the observation plane (= panel plane of the observation panel 16) and the point (X _c2 , Y _c2 ) that intersects the observation plane That's good. When detecting the viewpoint movement amount of the observer, the image processing unit 13 can obtain (H _x , H _y ) by calculation from the positional relationship as shown in FIG. Therefore, the image processing unit 13 uses the (H _x , H _y ) to generate a wide range of two-dimensional image data (image data corresponding to an area wider than the observation plane L) as viewed in the object coordinate system (X, Y). ) Coordinate position (X ′, Y ′) may be translated in accordance with the viewpoint position of the observer.

  As described above, the image processing unit 13 generates image data obtained by translating the position of the image represented by the two-dimensional image data supplied from the input unit 12 in accordance with the viewpoint movement amount of the observer. Supplied to the dimension information projector 14. The two-dimensional information projector 14 projects a two-dimensional image onto the display surface 15 based on the two-dimensional image data supplied from the image processing unit 13. Thus, the observer can observe the stereoscopic image by viewing the display surface 15 via the observation panel 16.

  According to the above-described embodiment, since the position of the image is translated in accordance with the position of the observer's viewpoint, a stereoscopic image that matches the position of the observer's viewpoint can be displayed. In addition, since the two-dimensional image data is used in the present embodiment, the data transmission amount on the communication network 20 can be reduced as compared with the conventional three-dimensional image data. This is particularly advantageous when image data is transmitted via the mobile communication network 30. Further, by limiting the display target to a landscape that is observed far away, it is possible to significantly reduce the difference data from the previous image in the moving image. Thereby, it is also possible to transmit and receive stereoscopic image data to and from mountainous areas where no fixed communication network is provided.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where one two-dimensional image is used has been described for the sake of simplicity. However, a three-dimensional image including a plurality of two-dimensional images having different depths may be a target.
In addition, there is a method in which the position of the observer's viewpoint is specified based on the image obtained by capturing the observer as described above, but other than this, for example, the position of the seat where the observer is seated is known in advance. In this case, the position of the viewpoint may be specified by designating each seat where the observer is seated, and the movement amount may be obtained.
In the above embodiment, the observer's right eye and left eye are the positions of the observer's viewpoints. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the midpoint of a line segment connecting the right eye and the left eye is observed. It may be the position of the person's viewpoint. In this way, when the position of the viewpoint is set to one, the observer can observe a stereoscopic image without wearing glasses for stereoscopic images.

It is a figure which shows the apparatus structure of this invention. It is a figure which shows another apparatus structure of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the principle of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the principle of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the principle of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Stereoscopic image display apparatus, 11 ... Housing | casing, 12 ... Input part, 13 ... Image processing part, 14 ... Two-dimensional information projector, 15 ... Display surface, 16 ... Observation panel, 17 ... Detection apparatus.

Claims (5)

Input means for inputting image data;
Detection means for detecting the amount of movement of the position of the observer's viewpoint;
An image processing unit that translates the position of the image represented by the image data input by the input unit on a two-dimensional plane in accordance with the movement amount of the viewpoint position detected by the detection unit;
A stereoscopic image display device comprising: display means for displaying an image based on image data whose image position has been moved by the image processing means. The display means includes a display surface on which an image based on image data is displayed, an observation panel provided in parallel with the display surface and transmitting image light emitted from the display surface from the back toward the observation surface; Have
The image processing means includes a point where a line of sight with respect to the observation target displayed on the display surface from the observer's viewpoint before movement intersects with a panel surface of the observation panel, and the observation target from the observer's viewpoint after movement. The stereoscopic image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position of the image represented by the image data is translated by a distance between a line of sight of the image and a point where the line of sight intersects the panel surface of the observation panel. A mobile station that performs data communication via a mobile communication network
The stereoscopic image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the input unit receives image data received by the mobile station and supplies the image data to the image processing unit. A step in which a stereoscopic image display device inputs image data to the device;
The stereoscopic image display device detects the amount by which the position of the observer's viewpoint has moved;
The stereoscopic image display device translates the position of the image represented by the image data on a two-dimensional plane in accordance with the detected movement amount of the viewpoint position;
A stereoscopic image display method comprising: a step of displaying an image based on image data whose image position has been moved in the stereoscopic image display device. Stereoscopic image display having a display surface on which an image based on image data is displayed, and an observation panel provided in parallel to the display surface and transmitting image light emitted from the display surface from the back toward the observation surface A stereoscopic image display method performed by the apparatus,
Inputting image data to the device;
Detecting the amount by which the position of the observer's viewpoint has moved;
The point of view of the observation target displayed on the display surface from the viewpoint of the observer before movement intersects the panel surface of the observation panel, and the line of sight of the observation target from the viewpoint of the observer after movement Translating the position of the image represented by the image data by a distance between a point intersecting the panel surface of
And a step of displaying an image based on the image data whose image position has been moved.

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