JP2001258050A - Stereoscopic video imaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stereoscopic video imaging device for photographing a stereoscopic whole sky image by the use of a plurality of image pickup devices, that can photograph the stereoscopic whole sky image at once. SOLUTION: The stereoscopic video image pickup device is provided with a plurality of wide field angle image pickup sections 1-4, that are placed at equal intervals L on one circumference and whose optical axis is directed perpendicularly to a plane formed by the circumference and with a signal processing section 5, that converts a wide field angle video image respectively outputted from a plurality of the wide field angle image pickup sections into an unmagnification video image.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a three-dimensional image pickup device for taking a three-dimensional image of the entire sky using a plurality of image pickup devices (hereinafter simply referred to as "cameras").

[Summary of the Invention] A stereoscopic image pickup apparatus according to the present invention comprises a plurality of wide angle cameras having a wide angle of view on the same circumference and an optical axis perpendicular to a plane formed by the circumference. Are arranged so that the distances are equal, and images obtained from two adjacent wide-angle cameras are used as two images presented to the left and right eyes of the viewer. As a result, it is possible to shoot a panoramic three-dimensional image at a time as viewed from an arbitrary point in the camera arrangement circle,
It can also be presented so that the viewer can appreciate it.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art As one method of presenting a stereoscopic image to a viewer, there is a method of presenting two images having different parallaxes to the left and right eyes of the viewer to give a three-dimensional effect. As the two images having different parallaxes used in this method, images captured by two cameras arranged side by side in the horizontal direction are used.

Further, as a camera, a camera having two image pickup elements and a lens built in the same camera body and further capable of performing zoom photographing by moving the magnification, optical axis, etc. of the two lenses in conjunction has been developed. ing.

As a method of photographing a stereoscopic image using a plurality of cameras, a method of photographing a predetermined space with a plurality of cameras and restoring stereoscopic information from parallax between images of adjacent cameras has also been proposed. Have been.

[0006] As described above, a method of shooting a three-dimensional image is as follows.
Some have already been proposed and some have been put into practical use.

[0007]

However, all of the conventionally proposed methods of capturing a stereoscopic image enable stereoscopic photography in a limited space. There has not yet been proposed a method of capturing a three-dimensional image of the sky at a time.

Therefore, as a method of increasing the sense of reality in a virtual reality space using a stereoscopic video, a method of presenting all around the virtual space where the viewer is present as a stereoscopic video is conceivable.

In order to realize this by the conventional stereoscopic video photographing method using parallax, it is necessary to photograph the same object from different angles of view with two cameras. However, when attempting to shoot an image of the entire sky as a stereoscopic image, there is a portion where the shooting areas of the two cameras do not overlap with each other, and in principle, it is difficult to shoot a stereoscopic image. .

On the other hand, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-95344 (omnidirectional imaging device), a plurality of cameras are arranged at equal intervals on the same circumference, and an image of the entire periphery in a direction parallel to the camera arrangement surface is reflected by a reflecting mirror. Discloses a method in which a panoramic image of the entire 360-degree view as viewed from the center point of the camera arrangement circle is taken at once by supplying the panoramic image to the camera.

However, according to the method described in this publication, the two images obtained have a parallax in the vertical direction.
It is difficult to apply the present invention to an imaging device for viewing a stereoscopic image using horizontal parallax.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and uses a camera capable of capturing a wide angle of view image using a fisheye lens or other methods, and provides a three-dimensional image of the entire sky. It is an object of the present invention to provide a three-dimensional video image pickup device capable of photographing at once.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, a stereoscopic image pickup apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises:
A plurality of wide-angle imaging units arranged at equal intervals on the same circumference and with the optical axis directed in a direction perpendicular to a plane formed by the circumference, and the plurality of wide-angle imaging units are respectively output. And a signal processing unit that converts a wide-angle image of interest into an equal-magnification image.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a stereoscopic image pickup apparatus comprising a plurality of stereoscopic image pickup devices arranged at equal intervals on the same circumference and with the optical axes oriented in a direction perpendicular to a plane formed by the circumference. A wide-angle imaging unit, and a signal processing unit that generates two equal-magnification images to be presented to the left and right eyes of the viewer from output images of two adjacent wide-angle imaging units among the plurality of wide-angle imaging units. And characterized in that:

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a stereoscopic video imaging apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the plurality of wide-angle imaging sections are provided with a fisheye lens. It is characterized by being one using a circumferential prism, one equipped with a wide-angle lens, or one using a plurality of image sensors.

According to the configuration of the present invention, each of the plurality of wide angle-of-view imaging units arranged at equal intervals on the same circle can photograph the entire sky, so that the wide angle of view is obtained. A three-dimensional image that can be photographed at a time from the entire circumference viewed from one point within the arrangement circle of the imaging unit and that can be viewed by a viewer can be easily generated.

[0017]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of a stereoscopic image pickup apparatus according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the three-dimensional image pickup apparatus of the first embodiment is arranged at equal intervals L on the same circumference and with the optical axis oriented in a direction perpendicular to the plane formed by the circumference. 4
Wide-angle cameras 1 to 4 and these four wide-angle cameras 1
4 to a signal processing unit 5 for converting wide-angle images output from the respective cameras into equal-magnification images.

The four wide-angle cameras 1 to 4 are provided with, for example, a fisheye lens 6. Therefore, the signal processing unit 5 geometrically transforms the output images of the four wide-angle cameras 1 to 4.

Next, the operation of the stereoscopic image pickup apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that FIG.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of signal processing in the signal processing unit 5.

In the figure, since the cameras 1 to 4 used in the three-dimensional image pickup apparatus of the first embodiment use the fisheye lens 6, in one stereoscopic image pickup apparatus, each camera is centered on its arrangement position. It is possible to shoot a two-dimensional omnidirectional video image. That is, the area that can be photographed by two adjacent cameras simultaneously can cover the entire sky.

Therefore, by installing these four cameras facing the sky, the whole sky image viewed from four points can be obtained at the same time, so that all the cameras viewed from any one point within the circle of arrangement of the four cameras are obtained. It is possible to realize a three-dimensional image pickup device that can shoot a three-dimensional image of the sky at a time.

In the signal processing section 5, these cameras 1-4
To correct the distortion caused by the photographing lens of the image obtained in the step. In addition, an image shot with a fisheye lens has a zenith at the center of the shooting area, and as shown in FIG. 2A, an entire image is projected on a concentric circle. In the signal processing unit 5, FIG.
As shown in (2), this image is geometrically transformed and converted into an image (equal-magnification image) projected onto a square area as captured by a normal camera.

Then, of the four converted video signal outputs, a video image taken by an adjacent camera is presented to each of the left and right eyes of the viewer in a manner conventionally used, so as to be viewed as a stereoscopic video image. can do.

The stereoscopic video to be viewed will be described specifically. For example, the image of the camera 1 is presented to the right eye, and the image of the camera 4 is presented to the left eye. Then, a stereoscopic image viewed in the direction of arrow A from the center P of the four camera arrangement circles can be viewed.

Similarly, by using the images of the cameras 1 and 2, the cameras 2 and 3, and the cameras 3 and 4, a stereoscopic image viewed in the directions of arrows B, C and D from the center P of the four camera arrangement circles can be obtained. You can appreciate it.

Next, FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of the stereoscopic image pickup apparatus according to the present invention.

In FIG. 3, the stereoscopic image pickup apparatus according to the second embodiment is obtained by expanding the number of wide-angle cameras to n. That is, the three-dimensional image pickup apparatus according to the second embodiment has n wide field angles arranged at equal intervals on the same circumference and with the optical axis oriented in a direction perpendicular to the plane formed by the circumference. Cameras (1 to n) and the n wide angle cameras (1 to n)
n) and a signal processing section 7 for converting the wide-angle images output respectively to equal-magnification images.

The n wide-angle cameras (1 to n) are:
As in the first embodiment, for example, a fisheye lens 6 is mounted. Therefore, the signal processing unit 7 geometrically transforms the output images of the n wide-angle cameras (1 to n) as in the first embodiment.

The operation of the stereoscopic image pickup apparatus according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, except that the number of cameras is n.
Since the number of cameras is increased, the camera images used for stereoscopic viewing are n sets of cameras 1, 2, 2, 3,..., (N−1) and n, and n and 1. That is, since the number of cameras is increased to n, the number of directions in which stereoscopic viewing can be performed is increased to n, and a smoother stereoscopic image of the entire sky can be obtained.

In FIGS. 1 and 3, the signal processing units 5, 7
Provides a plurality of video signals converted and generated to the subsequent processing system,
Although the processing system selects video signals of two adjacent cameras, the signal processing units 5 and 7 may directly select and output the video signals.

In each of the above embodiments, the wide-angle camera is provided with a fish-eye lens. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an all-around camera using a conical prism or a wide-angle lens may be used. The camera used, a wide-angle camera using a plurality of image sensors, or the like can be used.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Each of the plurality of wide-angle imaging units arranged at equal intervals on the same circle can capture the entire sky, so that the whole-sky image viewed from one point within the plane of the arrangement of the wide-angle imaging unit is once. Can be taken
Further, it is possible to easily generate a stereoscopic image that can be viewed by a viewer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of a stereoscopic video imaging device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of signal processing in a signal processing unit.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of the stereoscopic video imaging device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 to n wide-angle camera 5,7 signal processing unit 6 fisheye lens

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masayuki Sugawara 1-1-10 Kinuta, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo Inside the Japan Broadcasting Corporation Research Institute (72) Inventor Koji Mitani 1-110-11 Kinuta, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo Japan Broadcasting Research Institute, Broadcasting Corporation F-term (reference) 2H059 AA10 5C061 AB01 AB02 AB04 AB08

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of wide angle-of-view imaging units arranged at equal intervals on the same circumference and with an optical axis directed in a direction perpendicular to a plane formed by the circumference; A signal processing unit that converts a wide-angle image output from the imaging unit into an equal-magnification image, respectively. 2. A plurality of wide angle-of-view imaging units arranged at equal intervals on the same circumference and with the optical axis directed in a direction perpendicular to a plane formed by the circumference; A signal processing unit that generates two equal-magnification images to be presented from the output images of two adjacent wide-angle imaging units among the plurality of wide-angle imaging units. . 3. The stereoscopic video imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of wide-angle imaging units include a fish-eye lens, a circular prism, and a wide-angle lens. A three-dimensional video image pickup apparatus, which is one of a three-dimensional image pickup apparatus and a plurality of image pickup elements.