Patent Application
20230025380
This disclosure relates generally to image or video capture devices, including a multiple camera system for generating an image.
Many devices include one or more cameras. For example, a smartphone or tablet includes a front facing camera to capture selfie images and a rear facing camera to capture an image of a scene (such as a landscape or other scenes of interest to a device user). A user may wish to capture an image of a scene that does not fit within a field of view of a camera. Some devices include multiple cameras with different fields of view based on a curvature of a camera lens directing light to the image sensor. The user may thus use the camera with the desired field of view of the scene based on the camera lens curvature to capture an image.
Systems and techniques are described for digital imaging to generate an image with a large field of view. For example, a device can include a first camera with a first image sensor that captures a first image based on first light redirected by a light redirection element. The light redirection element can redirect the first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward the first camera. The device can include a second camera with a second image sensor that captures a second image based on second light redirected by a light redirection element. The light redirection element can redirect the second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward the second camera. The first camera, second camera, and light redirection element, can be arranged so that a virtual extension of the first path beyond the light redirection element intersects with a virtual extension of the second path intersect beyond the light redirection element. These elements can be arranged so that first lens of the first camera and a second lens of the second camera virtually overlap based on the light redirection without physically overlapping. The light redirection element can include a first prism coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface. The coupling interface can include edges cut and polished from corners of the first prism and the second prism. The coupling interface between the first prism and the second prism can include one or more coatings. The one or more coatings can include an epoxy, a glue, a cement, a mucilage, a paste, and/or another adhesive. The one or more coatings can include a colorant, such as a paint and/or a dye. The colorant can be non-transmissive of light, non-reflective of light, and/or absorbent of light. The device can modify the first image and/or the second image using a perspective distortion correction, for instance to make the first image and the second image appear to view the photographed scene from the same angle. The device can generate a combined image from the first image and the second image, for example by aligning and stitching the first image and the second image together. The combined image can have a larger field of view than the first image, the second image, or both.
In one example, an apparatus for digital imaging is provided. The apparatus includes a memory and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors (e.g., implemented in circuitry) and coupled to the memory. The one or more processors are configured to and can: receive a first image of a scene captured by a first image sensor, wherein a light redirection element is configured to redirect a first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward the first image sensor, wherein the first image sensor is configured to capture the first image based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor; receive a second image of the scene captured by a second image sensor, wherein the light redirection element is configured to redirect a second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward the second image sensor, wherein the second image sensor is configured to capture the second image based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor, wherein the light redirection element includes a first prism coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and generate a combined image from the first image and the second image, wherein the combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image.
In another example, a method of digital imaging is provided. The method includes receiving a first image of a scene captured by a first image sensor, wherein a light redirection element redirects a first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward the first image sensor, wherein the first image sensor captures the first image based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor; receiving a second image of the scene captured by a second image sensor, wherein a light redirection element redirects a second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward the second image sensor, wherein the second image sensor captures the second image based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor, wherein the light redirection element includes a first prism coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and generating a combined image from the first image and the second image, wherein the combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image.
In another example, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium is provided that has stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: receiving a first image of a scene captured by a first image sensor, wherein a light redirection element redirects a first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward the first image sensor, wherein the first image sensor captures the first image based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor; receiving a second image of the scene captured by a second image sensor, wherein a light redirection element redirects a second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward the second image sensor, wherein the second image sensor captures the second image based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor, wherein the light redirection element includes a first prism coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and generating a combined image from the first image and the second image, wherein the combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image.
In another example, an apparatus for digital imaging is provided. The apparatus includes means for receiving a first image of a scene captured by a first image sensor, wherein a light redirection element redirects a first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward the first image sensor, wherein the first image sensor captures the first image based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor; means for receiving a second image of the scene captured by a second image sensor, wherein a light redirection element redirects a second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward the second image sensor, wherein the second image sensor captures the second image based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor, wherein the light redirection element includes a first prism coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and means for generating a combined image from the first image and the second image, wherein the combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image.
In another example, an apparatus for digital imaging is provided. The apparatus includes a first prism that receives a first light from a scene and redirects the first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward a first image sensor; a second prism that receives a second light from a scene and redirects the second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward a second image sensor, wherein the first prism is coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface; and one or more coatings along the coupling interface.
In another example, a method of digital imaging is provided. The method includes receiving, at a first prism, first light from a scene; redirecting, using the first prism, the first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward a first image sensor; receiving, at a second prism, second light from a scene, wherein the first prism is coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and redirecting, using the second prism, the second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward a second image sensor.
In another example, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium is provided that has stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: receive, at a first prism, first light from a scene; redirect, using the first prism, the first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward a first image sensor; receive, at a second prism, second light from a scene, wherein the first prism is coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and redirect, using the second prism, the second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward a second image sensor.
In another example, an apparatus for digital imaging is provided. The apparatus includes means for receiving, at a first prism, first light from a scene; means for redirecting, using the first prism, the first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward a first image sensor; means for receiving, at a second prism, second light from a scene, wherein the first prism is coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and means for redirecting, using the second prism, the second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward a second image sensor.
In some aspects, a virtual extension of the first path beyond the light redirection element intersects with a virtual extension of the second path beyond the light redirection element.
In some aspects, the one or more coatings include an epoxy. In some aspects, a refractive index of the epoxy and a refractive index of the first prism differ by less than a threshold amount. In some aspects, a refractive index of the epoxy and a refractive index of the second prism differ by less than a threshold amount. In some aspects, a refractive index of the epoxy exceeds a threshold refractive index. In some aspects, a refractive index of the one or more coatings, a refractive index of the first prism, and a refractive index of the second prism differ from one another by less than a threshold amount.
In some aspects, the one or more coatings include a colorant. In some aspects, the colorant is configured to be non-transmissive of at least a subset of light that reaches the coupling interface. In some aspects, the colorant is configured to be non-reflective of at least a subset of light that reaches the coupling interface. In some aspects, the colorant is configured to be absorbent of at least a subset of light that reaches the coupling interface. In some aspects, the colorant reflects less than a threshold amount of light that falls on the colorant. In some aspects, the colorant absorbs at least a threshold amount of light that falls on the colorant. In some aspects, the colorant is black. In some aspects, wherein the colorant includes a plurality of carbon nanotubes. In some aspects, the colorant has a luminosity below a maximum luminosity threshold.
In some aspects, the first prism includes a first set of three sides and the second prism includes a second set of three sides. The first set of three sides, and the second set of three sides, may be rectangular sides. In some aspects, the first prism includes a first prism coupling side that is perpendicular to a second side of the first prism, wherein the second prism includes a second prism coupling side that is perpendicular to a second side of the second prism, wherein the coupling interface couples the first prism coupling side of the first prism to the second prism coupling side of the second prism.
In some aspects, a shape of the first prism is based on a first triangular prism with a first cut along a first edge between two sides of the first triangular prism to form a first prism coupling side, wherein a shape of the second prism is based on a second triangular prism with a second cut along a second edge between two sides of the second triangular prism to form a second prism coupling side, wherein the coupling interface couples the first prism coupling side of the first prism to the second prism coupling side of the second prism. In some aspects, the first prism coupling side is smoothed after the first cut using at least one of grinding or polishing, wherein the second prism coupling side is smoothed after the second cut using at least one of grinding or polishing. In some aspects, the first prism coupling side is at least partially coated using the one or more coatings.
In some aspects, the first prism includes a first edge based on a first cut to the first prism, wherein the second prism includes a second edge based on a second cut to the second prism, wherein the coupling interface couples the first edge of the first prism to the second edge of the second prism. In some aspects, the first edge is smoothed through at least one of grinding and polishing, wherein the second edge is smoothed through at least one of grinding and polishing.
In some aspects, the one or more processors are configured to: modify at least one of the first image and the second image using a perspective distortion correction before generating the combined image from the first image and the second image. In some aspects, to modify at least one of the first image or the second image using the perspective distortion correction, the at least one processor is configured to: modify the first image from depicting a first perspective to depicting a third perspective using the perspective distortion correction; and modify the second image from depicting a second perspective to depicting the third perspective using the perspective distortion correction, wherein the third perspective is between the first perspective and the second perspective. In some aspects, to modify at least one of the first image or the second image using the perspective distortion correction, the at least one processor is configured to: identify depictions of one or more objects in image data of at least one of the first image or the second image; and modify the image data at least in part by projecting the image data based on the depictions of the one or more objects.
In some aspects, the at least one processor is configured to generate the combined image from the first image and the second image in response to modifying at least the one of the first image and the second image using the perspective distortion correction. In some aspects, to modify at least one of the first image and the second image using the perspective distortion correction, the at least one processor is configured to: modify the first image from depicting a first perspective to depicting a common perspective using the perspective distortion correction; and modify the second image from depicting a second perspective to depicting the common perspective using the perspective distortion correction, wherein the common perspective is between the first perspective and the second perspective. In some aspects, to modify at least one of the first image and the second image using the perspective distortion correction, the at least one processor is configured to: identify depictions of one or more objects in image data of at least one of the first image and the second image; and modify the image data at least in part by projecting the image data based on the depictions of the one or more objects.
In some aspects, to generate the combined image from the first image and the second image, the at least one processor is configured to: align a first portion of the first image with a second portion of the second image; and stitch the first image and the second image together based on the first portion of the first image and the second portion of the second image being aligned.
In some aspects, the methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable medium described above further comprise: the first image sensor; the second image sensor; and the light redirection element.
In some aspects, the light redirection element includes a first reflective surface, wherein, to redirect the first light toward the first image sensor, the light redirection element uses the first reflective surface to reflect the first light toward the first image sensor. In some aspects, the light redirection element includes a second reflective surface, wherein, to redirect the second light toward the second image sensor, the light redirection element uses the second reflective surface to reflect the second light toward the second image sensor.
In some aspects, the first prism is configured to refract the first light. In some aspects, the second prism is configured to refract the second light.
In some aspects, the first path includes a path of the first light before the first light enters the first prism. In some aspects, the second path includes a path of the second light before the second light enters the second prism.
In some aspects, the first prism includes a first reflective surface configured to reflect the first light. In some aspects, the second prism includes a second reflective surface configured to reflect the second light. In some aspects, the first path includes a path of the first light after the first light enters the first prism but before the first reflective surface reflects the first light. In some aspects, the second path includes a path of the second light after the second light enters the second prism but before the second reflective surface reflects the second light.
In some aspects, the first image and the second image are captured contemporaneously.
In some aspects, the light redirection element is fixed relative to the first image sensor and the second image sensor.
In some aspects, a first planar surface of the first image sensor faces a first direction, and a second planar surface of the second image sensor faces a second direction that is parallel to the first direction.
In some aspects, the at least one processor is configured to: modify at least one of the first image and the second image using a brightness uniformity correction.
In some aspects, the methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable medium described above further comprise: the first image sensor that captures the first image. In some aspects, the methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable medium described above further comprise: the second image sensor that captures the second image.
In some aspects, the methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable medium described above further comprise: the first prism of the light redirection element. In some aspects, the methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable medium described above further comprise: the second prism of the light redirection element. In some aspects, the methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable medium described above further comprise: the light redirection element.
In some aspects, the first image sensor is configured to capture a first image of the scene based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor, wherein the second image sensor is configured to capture a second image of the scene based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor. In some aspects, the methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable medium described above further comprise: receiving the first image of the scene from the first image sensor; receiving the second image of the scene captured from the second image sensor; and generating a combined image from the first image and the second image, wherein the combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image. In some aspects, the methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable medium described above further comprise: modifying at least one of the first image and the second image using a perspective distortion correction, wherein generating the combined image from the first image and the second image is performed in response to modifying at least the one of the first image and the second image using the perspective distortion correction.
In some aspects, the apparatus comprises a camera, a mobile handset, a smart phone, a mobile telephone, a portable gaming device, another mobile device, a wireless communication device, a smart watch, a wearable device, a head-mounted display (HMD), an extended reality device (e.g., a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, or a mixed reality (MR) device), a personal computer, a laptop computer, a server computer, another device, or a combination thereof. In some aspects, the one or more processors include an image signal processor (ISP). In some aspects, the apparatus includes a camera or multiple cameras for capturing one or more images. In some aspects, the apparatus includes an image sensor that captures the image data. In some aspects, the apparatus further includes a display for displaying the image, one or more notifications associated with processing of the image, and/or other displayable data.
This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entire specification of this patent, any or all drawings, and each claim.
The foregoing, together with other features and embodiments, will become more apparent upon referring to the following specification, claims, and accompanying drawings.
Aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements. Illustrative embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the following figures:
Aspects of the present disclosure may be used for image or video capture devices. Some aspects include generating a wide angle image using multiple cameras.
A smartphone, tablet, digital camera, or other device includes a camera to capture images or video of a scene. The camera has a maximum field of view based on an image sensor and one or more camera lenses. For example, a single lens or multiple lens system with more curvature in the camera lenses may allow a larger field of view of a scene to be captured by an image sensor. Some devices include multiple cameras with different fields of view based on curvatures of the focus lenses. For instance, a device may include a camera with a normal lens having a normal field of view, and a different camera with a wide-angle lens having a wider field of view. A user of the camera, or software application running on the camera's processor, can select between the different cameras based on field of view, to select the camera with a field of view that is optimal for capturing a particular set of images or video. For example, some smartphones include a telephoto camera, a wide angle camera, and an ultra-wide angle camera with different fields of view. Before capture, the user or software application may select which camera to use based on the field of view of each camera. Compensation for such distortion can be computationally expensive and inaccurate due to reliance on approximations. Applying distortion compensation can retain some of the original distortion, can overcompensate, and/or can introduce other image artifacts.
However, the ultra-wide angle camera may have a field of view that is less than a desired field of view of the scene to be captured. For example, many users want to capture images or video with a field of view of a scene larger than the field of view of the camera. A device manufacturer may increase the curvature of a camera lens to increase the field of view of the camera. However, the device manufacturer may also need to increase the size and complexity of the image sensor to accommodate the larger field of view.
Additionally, lens curvature introduces distortion into the captured image frames from the camera. For instance, lens curvature can introduce radial distortion, such as barrel distortion, pincushion distortion, or mustache distortion. Digital image manipulation can, in some cases, be used to perform software-based compensation for radial distortion by warping the distorted image with a reverse distortion. However, software-based compensation for radial distortion can be difficult and computationally expensive to perform. Moreover, software-based compensation generally relies on approximations and models that may not be applicable in all cases, and can end up warping the image inaccurately or incompletely. The resulting image with the compensation applied may still retain some radial distortion, may end up distorted in an opposite manner to the original image due to overcompensation, or may include other visual artifacts.
Systems and techniques are described for digital imaging to generate an image with a large field of view. A device can include a first camera that captures a first image based on first light redirected by a first light redirection element and a second camera that captures a second image based on second light redirected by a second light redirection element. The first camera, second camera, first light redirection element, and second light redirection element can be arranged so that a first lens of the first camera and a second lens of the second camera virtually overlap based on the light redirection without physically overlapping. For example, a first center of a first entrance pupil of the first lens of the first camera and a second center of a second entrance pupil of a second lens of the second camera can virtually overlap without physically overlapping. The device can generate a combined image from the first image and the second image, for example by aligning and stitching the first image and the second image together. The combined image can have a wider field of view than the first image, the second image, or both.
In some examples, the device may use non-wide-angle lenses, rather than relying on wide-angle lenses with increased lens curvature, to generate the combined image having the large field of view. As a result, the cameras in the device can use lenses that do not introduce the radial distortion that wide-angle lenses and ultra-wide-angle lenses introduce, in which case there is little or no need to apply radial distortion compensation. Thus, generation of the combined image having the large field of view with the device can be both less computationally expensive and more accurate than producing a comparable image with a camera having a curved lens that introduces radial distortion and a processor that then compensates for that radial distortion. The individual cameras in the device can also each have a smaller and less complex image sensor than the image sensor in a camera with a curved lens that introduces radial distortion. Thus, the individual cameras in the device can draw less power, and require less processing power to process, than the camera with the curved lens that introduces radial distortion.
A device, such as the camera 112 or another image processing device, may process the captured image frame 108 using distortion compensation to reduce the barrel distortion. However, the processing may create its own distortion effects on the captured image frame 108. For example, the center of the scene 102 in the captured frame 108 may be normalized or otherwise adjusted with reference to the edges of the scene in the captured image frame 108. Adjusting the center may include stretching the corners of the scene in the captured image frame 108 to more closely resemble a rectangle (or the shape of the image sensor if different than a rectangle). An example processed image frame 110 generated by processing the captured image frame 108 using distortion compensation is illustrated in
The lens curvature of a lens 104 can be increased in order to increase the field of view for captured image frames by the image sensor 106. For example, wide-angle lenses, ultra-wide-angle lenses, and fisheye lenses all typically exhibit high levels of lens curvature that generally result in barrel distortion, other types of radial distortion, or other types of distortion. As a result, the distortion increases in each captured image frame 108 captured using such a lens, as in the barrel distortion illustrated in
Some devices also include a software function to generate images with a wider field of view using a single camera based on motion of the camera. For example, some camera applications include a camera-movement panoramic stitching mode to generate images with wider fields of view than the camera. For a camera-movement panoramic stitching mode, a user moves a camera while the camera captures a sequence of image frames until all of a scene is included in at least one of the image frames. The image frames are then stitched together to generate the wide angle image.
For example, the camera 206 or another device can identify that a first portion of the first image frame and a second portion of the second image frame both depict a shared portion of the scene 202. The shared portion of the scene 202 is illustrated between two dashed vertical lines that fall within both the first scene portion 210 and the second scene portion 212. The camera 206 or other device can identify the shared portion of the scene 202 within the first image and the second image by detecting features of shared portion the scene 202 within both the first image and the second image. The camera 206 or other device can align the first portion of the first image with the second portion of the second image. The camera 206 or other device can generate a combined image from the first image and the second image by stitching the first portion of the first image and the second portion of the second image together. The camera 206 can similarly stitch together the second image frame and the third image frame. For instance, the camera 206 or other device can identify a second shared portion of the scene 202 depicted in the third portion of the third image frame and a fourth portion of the second image frame. The camera 206 or other device can stitch together the third portion of the third image frame and the fourth portion of the second image frame. Since a sequence of image frames are captured over a period of time while the camera 206 is moving along the camera movement arc 208, the camera-movement panoramic stitching mode illustrated in
Distortions are also introduced by an entrance pupil of the camera changing depths from the scene when the camera is moved. In other words, moving the camera changes a position of a camera's entrance pupil with reference to the scene. An entrance pupil associated with an image sensor is the image of an aperture from a front of a camera (such as through one or more lenses preceding or located at the aperture to focus light towards the image sensor).
For the depths of objects in a scene to not change with reference to a moving camera between image captures, the camera needs to be rotated at an axis centered at the entrance pupil of the camera. However, when a person moves the camera, the person does not rotate the camera on an axis at the center of the entrance pupil. For example, the camera may be moved around an axis at the torso of the person moving the camera (or the rotation also includes translational motion). Since the camera rotation is not on an axis at the entrance pupil, the position of the entrance pupil changes between image frame captures, and the image frames are captured at different depths. A stitching distortion may be a result of parallax artifacts caused by stitching together image frames captured at different depths. A stitching distortion may also be a result of global motion (which also includes a change in perspective of the camera when capturing the sequence of image frames).
Distortions and artifacts can also be introduced into the combined image based on varying speeds of the user's movement of the camera 206 along the camera movement arc 208. For example, certain image frames may include motion blur in certain frames if motion of the camera 206 is fast. Likewise, if motion of the camera 206 is fast, the shared portion of the scene depicted in two consecutive image frames may be very small, potentially introducing distortions due to poor stitching. Distortions and artifacts can also be introduced into the combined image if certain camera settings of the camera 206, such as focus or gain, change between image frame captures during the camera movement arc 208. Such changes in camera settings can produce visible seams between images in the resulting combined image.
The figures illustrated herein depict each lens of each camera at a location of an entrance pupil for the camera. For example, this is the case in
On the other hand, if the car in the scene 302 is moving from right to left instead of left to right, then the car may be at least partially omitted from the image 308 despite being present in the scene 302 during capture of the first image frame and/or during capture of the second image frame. For example, if the car is at least partially in the second scene portion 306 at the first time during capture of the first image frame, then the car may be at least partially omitted from the first image frame. If the car is at least partially in the first scene portion 304 at the second time during capture of the second image frame, then the car may be at least partially omitted from the second image frame. The combined image 308 may thus at least partially omit the car, and in some cases may include more than one copy of a partially omitted car. This type of omission represents another type of distortion or image artifact that can result from camera-movement panoramic stitching through motion of a camera 206 as illustrated in
Another example distortion is a perspective distortion. Referring back to
As described above, distortions caused by increasing a lens curvature to increase a field of view reduces the quality of the resulting images, which negatively impacts the user experience. Furthermore, distortions caused by capturing a sequence of image frames over time (in a camera-movement panoramic stitching mode) to generate a wide angle image reduces the quality of the resulting images, which negatively impacts the user experience. Additionally, a camera-movement panoramic stitching mode that entails capture of a sequence of image frames while a user manually moves the camera may prevent the camera from performing video capture or may cause parallax artifacts that are difficult to remove because of the camera movement. Therefore, there is a need for a means for generating a wide angle image with a large field of view (including a sequence of wide angle images with large fields of view for video) that prevent or reduce the above described distortions.
In some examples of panoramic stitching, multiple cameras are used to capture image frames, which can allow panoramic stitching to be performed without camera movement. Image frames captured by the different cameras can be stitched together to generate a combined image with a field of view greater than the field of view of any one camera of the multiple cameras. As used below, such a combined image (with a field of view greater than the field of view of any one camera of the multiple cameras) is referred to as a wide angle image. The multiple cameras may be positioned so that the center of their entrance pupils overlap (such as virtually overlap). In this manner, the multiple cameras or a device including the multiple cameras is not required to be moved (which may cause the position of one or more entrance pupils to change). As a result, no distortions caused by a device movement is introduced into the generated wide angle images. In some implementations, the multiple cameras are configured to capture image frames concurrently and/or contemporaneously. As used herein, concurrent capture of image frames may refer to contemporaneous capture of the image frames. As used herein, concurrent and/or contemporaneous capture of image frames may refer to at least a portion of the exposure windows overlapping for corresponding image frames captured by the multiple cameras. As used herein, concurrent and/or contemporaneous capture of image frames may refer to at least a portion of the exposure windows for corresponding image frames falling within a shared time window. The shared time window may, for example, have a duration of one or more picoseconds, one or more nanoseconds, one or more milliseconds, one or more centiseconds, one or more deciseconds, one or more seconds, or a combination thereof. In this manner, no or fewer distortions caused by a time lapse in capturing a sequence of image frames is introduced into the generated wide angle image.
In addition to overlapping the center of the entrance pupils, the cameras may be positioned with reference to each other to capture a desired field of view of a scene. Since the position of the cameras with reference to one another is known, a device may be configured to reduce or remove perspective distortions based on the known positioning. Additionally, because of images captured by multiple cameras capture concurrently and/or contemporaneously does not require each camera to capture a sequence of image frames as in the camera-movement panoramic stitching mode of
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth, such as examples of specific components, circuits, and processes to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. The term “coupled” as used herein means connected directly to or connected through one or more intervening components or circuits. Also, in the following description and for purposes of explanation, specific nomenclature is set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these specific details may not be required to practice the teachings disclosed herein. In other instances, well known circuits and devices are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring teachings of the present disclosure. Some portions of the detailed descriptions which follow are presented in terms of procedures, logic blocks, processing and other symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. In the present disclosure, a procedure, logic block, process, or the like, is conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps or instructions leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, although not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated in a computer system.
It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussions, it is appreciated that throughout the present application, discussions utilizing the terms such as “accessing,” “receiving,” “sending,” “using,” “selecting,” “determining,” “normalizing,” “multiplying,” “averaging,” “monitoring,” “comparing,” “applying,” “updating,” “measuring,” “deriving,” “settling,” “generating” or the like, refer to the actions and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.
In the figures, a single block may be described as performing a function or functions; however, in actual practice, the function or functions performed by that block may be performed in a single component or across multiple components, and/or may be performed using hardware, using software, or using a combination of hardware and software. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are described below generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure. Also, the example devices may include components other than those shown, including well-known components such as a processor, memory, and the like.
Aspects of the present disclosure are applicable to any suitable electronic device including or coupled to multiple image sensors capable of capturing images or video (such as security systems, smartphones, tablets, laptop computers, digital video and/or still cameras, image capture devices 2005A, image processing devices 2005B, image capture and processing systems 2000, computing systems 2500, and so on). The terms “device” and “apparatus” are not limited to one or a specific number of physical objects (such as one smartphone, one camera controller, one processing system and so on). As used herein, a device may be any electronic device with one or more parts that may implement at least some portions of the disclosure. While the below description and examples use the term “device” to describe various aspects of the disclosure, the term “device” is not limited to a specific configuration, type, or number of objects. As used herein, an apparatus may include a device or a portion of the device for performing the described operations.
Depictions in the figures may not be drawn to scale or proportion, and implementations may vary in size or dimensions than as depicted in the figures. Some of the figures depict a camera lens indicating an entrance pupil of a camera. However, the lenses and entrances pupils may be in any suitable positioning with reference to each other (and the image sensors) to perform aspects of the present disclosure. A lens depicted in the figures may indicate a single element lens or a multiple element lens (even though a lens may appear to be depicted as a single element lens in the figures). Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to examples explicitly depicted in the figures.
The device 500 may generate the combined image by combining the first image and the second image, for instance by stitching together the first image and the second image without any need for movement of the first camera 501 and/or the second camera 502. For example, the device or another device can identify that a first portion of the first image captured by the first camera 501 and a second portion of the second image captured by the second camera 502 both depict a shared portion of the photographed scene. The device 500 can identify the shared portion of the scene within the first image and the second image by detecting features of shared portion the scene within both the first image and the second image. The device 500 can align the first portion of the first image with the second portion of the second image. The device 500 can generate the combined image from the first image and the second image by stitching the first portion of the first image and the second portion of the second image together.
The first camera 501 and the second camera 502 may be proprietary cameras, specialized cameras, or any type of cameras. In some aspects, the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 may be the same type of camera as one another. For instance, the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 may be the same make and model. In some aspects, the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 may be different types, makes, and/or models of cameras. While the examples below depict two similar cameras 501 and 502, any suitable number, types, or configurations of cameras may be used in performing aspects of the present disclosure. The first camera 501 and the second camera 502 may each be configured to receive and capture at least one spectrum of light, such as the visible light spectrum, the infrared light spectrum, the ultraviolet light spectrum, the microwave spectrum, the radio wave spectrum, the x-ray spectrum, the gamma ray spectrum, another subset of the electromagnetic spectrum, or a combination thereof.
The first camera 501, the second camera 502, and the one or more redirection elements 503 may be arranged such that the center of the entrance pupils associated with the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 virtually overlap. For example, each camera includes an image sensor coupled to one or more lenses to focus light onto the corresponding image sensor, and a lens and entrance pupil are at the same location for the camera. In using the one or more redirection elements 503, the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 may be arranged such that their lenses virtually overlap (e.g., the centers of their respective entrance pupils virtually overlap) without their lenses physically overlapping or otherwise occupying the same space. For example, light to be captured by the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 may be redirected (e.g., reflected and/or refracted) by the one or more redirection elements 503 so that the lenses of the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 can be physically separate while maintaining a virtual overlap of the lenses (e.g., a virtual overlap of the centers of the entrance pupils of the cameras). A parallax effect between image frames captured by the different camera 501 and 502 is reduced (or eliminated) as a result of the cameras' associated centers of the entrance pupils virtually overlapping.
As used herein, a virtual overlap may refer to a location that would include multiple objects (such as camera lenses) if the light is not redirected (such as described with reference to
The device 500 may also include one or more additional lenses, one or more apertures, one or more shutters, or other suitable components that are associated with the first camera 501 and the second camera 502. The device 500 may also include a flash, a depth sensor, or any other suitable imaging components. While two cameras are illustrated as part of the device 500, the device 500 may include or be coupled to additional image sensors not shown. In this manner, wide angle imaging may include the use of more than two cameras (such as three or more cameras). The two cameras are illustrated for the examples below for clarity in explaining aspects of the disclosure, but the disclosure is not limited to the specific examples of using two cameras.
The example device 500 also includes a processor 504, a memory 506 storing instructions 508, and a camera controller 510. In some implementations, the device 500 may include a display 514, a number of input/output (I/O) components 516, and a power supply 518. The device 500 may also include additional features or components not shown. In one example, a wireless interface, which may include a number of transceivers and a baseband processor, may be included for a wireless communication device. In another example, one or more motion sensors (such as a gyroscope), position sensors (such as a global positioning system sensor (GPS)), and a sensor controller may be included in a device.
The memory 506 may be a non-transient or non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer-executable instructions 508 to perform all or a portion of one or more operations described in this disclosure. In some implementations, the instructions 508 include instructions for operating the device 500 in a wide angle capture mode using the first camera 501 and the second camera 502. The instructions 508 may also include other applications or programs executed by the device 500, such as an operating system, a camera application, or other applications or operations to be performed by the device 500. In some examples, the memory 506 stores image frames (as a frame buffer) for the first camera 501 and/or for the second camera 502.
In some examples, the memory 506 stores camera brightness uniformity calibration data. Using the camera brightness uniformity calibration data, the device 500 (e.g., the camera controller 510, the ISP 512, and/or the processor 504) can adjust brightness levels in a first image from the first camera 501 and/or brightness levels in a second image from the second camera 502. For instance, the device 500 can remove vignetting or other brightness non-uniformities from the first image, the second image, or both. The device 500 can also increase or decrease overall brightness in the first image, the second image, or both, so that overall brightness matches between the first image and second image. Such brightness adjustments can ensure that there is no visible seam in the combined image (e.g., between the portion of the combined image that is from the first image and the portion of the combined image that is from the second image). In some examples, the memory 506 stores perspective distortion correction data. The perspective distortion correction data can include data such as angles, distances, directions, amplitudes, distortion correction vectors, curvatures, or a combination thereof. Using the perspective distortion correction data, the device 500 (e.g., the camera controller 510, the ISP 512, and/or the processor 504) can perform perspective distortion correction (e.g., perspective distortion correction 1022, flat perspective distortion correction 1515, curved perspective distortion correction 1525, curved perspective distortion correction (e.g., along the curved perspective-corrected image plane 1630)).
The processor 504 may be one or more suitable processors capable of executing scripts or instructions of one or more software programs (such as instructions 508) stored within the memory 506. In some aspects, the processor 504 may be one or more general purpose processors that execute instructions 508. For example, the processor 504 may be an applications processor and may execute a camera application. In some implementations, the processor 504 is configured to instruct the camera controller 510 to perform one or more operations with reference to the first camera 501 and the second camera 502. In additional or alternative aspects, the processor 504 may include integrated circuits or other hardware to perform functions or operations without the use of software.
While shown to be coupled to each other via the processor 504 in the example of
If the device 500 includes a display 514, the display 514 may be any suitable display or screen allowing for user interaction and/or to present items for viewing by a user (such as captured images, video, or preview images from one or more of the first camera 501 and the second camera 502). In some aspects, the display 514 is a touch-sensitive display. The optional I/O components 516 may include any suitable mechanism, interface, or device to receive input (such as commands) from the user and to provide output to the user. For example, the I/O components 516 may include a graphical user interface (GUI), keyboard, mouse, microphone and speakers, a squeezable bezel, one or more buttons (such as a power button), a slider, or a switch.
The camera controller 510 may include an image signal processor 512, which may be one or more image signal processors to process captured image frames provided by the one or more cameras 501 and 502. In some example implementations, the camera controller 510 (such as the image signal processor 512) may also control operation of the first camera 501 and the second camera 502. For example, the camera controller 510 (such as the image signal processor 512) may receive instructions from the processor 504 to perform wide angle imaging, and the camera controller 510 may initialize the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 and instruct the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 to capture one or more image frames that the camera controller 510 and/or processor 504 combine into a combined image using panoramic stitching for wide angle imaging. The camera controller 510 may control other aspects of the first camera 501 and the second camera 502, such as operations for performing one or more of automatic white balance, automatic focus, or automatic exposure operations.
In some aspects, the image signal processor 512 includes one or more processors configured to execute instructions from a memory (such as instructions 508 from the memory 506, instructions stored in a separate memory coupled to the image signal processor 512, or instructions provided by the processor 504). For example, the image signal processor 512 may execute instructions to process image frames from the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 to generate a wide angle image. In addition or alternative to the image signal processor 512 including one or more processors configured to execute software, the image signal processor 512 may include specific hardware to perform one or more operations described in the present disclosure. The image signal processor 512 alternatively or additionally may include a combination of specific hardware and the ability to execute software instructions.
While the image signal processor 512 is depicted as part of the camera controller 510, the image signal processor 512 may be separate from the camera controller 510. For example, the camera controller 510 to control the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 may be included in the processor 504 (such as embodied in instructions 508 executed by the processor 504 or embodied in one or more integrated circuits of the processor 504). The image signal processor 512 may be part of the image processing pipeline from an image sensor (for capturing image frames) to memory (for storing the image frames) and separate from the processor 504.
While the following examples for performing wide angle imaging or image capture are described with reference to the example device 500 in
The device 500 is configured to generate one or more wide angle images using the first camera 501 and the second camera 502. For example, the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 are configured to capture image frames, and the device 500 (such as the image signal processor 512) is configured to process the image frames to generate a wide angle image. As used herein, a wide angle image refers to an image with a wider field of view than the first camera 501 or the second camera 502. In processing the image frames, the device 500 combines the image frames to generate the wide angle image (which may also be referred to as a combined image). The first camera 501 and the second camera 502 may be positioned so that the centers of the associated entrance pupils virtually overlap. In this manner, parallax effects may be reduced or removed. Processing may also include reducing distortions in the image frames for the combined image (such as reducing perspective distortions based on the difference in positions between the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 and nonuniform brightness distortions caused by a configuration of one or more camera lenses focusing light onto the image sensor of camera 501 or 502). In some implementations, the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 may be configured to capture image frames concurrently and/or contemporaneously. In this manner, distortions caused by global motion or local motion may be reduced or removed. As noted above, image frames being captured concurrently and/or contemporaneously may refer to at least a portion of the exposure windows for the image frames overlapping. The exposure windows may overlap in any suitable manner. For example, start of frame (SOF) for the image frames may be coordinated, end of frame (EOF) for the image frames may be coordinated, or there exists a range of time during which all of the image frames are in their exposure window. As used herein, concurrent and/or contemporaneous capture of image frames may refer to at least a portion of the exposure windows for corresponding image frames falling within a shared time window. The shared time window may, for example, have a duration of one or more picoseconds, one or more nanoseconds, one or more milliseconds, one or more centiseconds, one or more deciseconds, one or more seconds, or a combination thereof.
In some implementations, the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 are configured to capture image frames to appear as if the image sensors of the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 border one another. In some implementations, a first camera 501 and a second camera 502 may be at an angle from one another to capture different portions of a scene. For example, if a smartphone is in a landscape mode, the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 may be neighboring each other horizontally and offset from each other by an angle. The first camera 501 may capture a right portion of the scene, and the second camera 502 may capture a left portion of the scene.
In some examples, the first camera 501, the second camera 502, or both are stationary. In some examples, the lens of the first camera 501, the lens of the second camera 502, or both are stationary. In some examples, the image sensor of the first camera 501, the image sensor of the second camera 502, or both are stationary. In some examples, each of the one or more light redirection elements 503 is stationary.
The conceptual diagram 600 may be an example of a conceptual configuration of the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 of the device 500. The conceptual depiction of the overlapping lenses 606 and 608 illustrates the entrance pupil of the first camera virtually overlapping with the entrance pupil of the second camera. The overlapping entrance pupil centers reduce or remove a parallax for image frames captured by the different image sensors 602 and 604. Corresponding image frames from the image sensors 602 and 604 may be combined to generate an image with a larger field of view than an individual image frame. For example, the images may be stitched together. As noted above, reducing or removing the parallax reduces the number and effect of artifacts or distortions that may exist in the combined image.
In some implementations, the field of view of the first image sensor 602 overlaps the field of view of the second image sensor 604. For example, a right edge of the first image sensor's field of view may overlap a left edge of the second image sensor's field of view.
Since the first image sensor 602 may capture a right portion of the scene in the wide angle image and the second image sensor 604 may capture a left portion of the scene in the wide angle image, the perspective of the wide angle image may be generated to be between the perspective of the first image sensor 602 and the perspective of the second image sensor 604. The image sensors 602 and 604 are not parallel to each other, and the image frames captured by the image sensors 602 and 604 include perspective distortions with reference to each other. To generate the wide angle image with a perspective between the two perspectives, the device 500 may perform perspective distortion correction on image frames from both image sensors 602 and 604 to generate image frames with a desired perspective. In some other implementations, the device 500 may perform perspective distortion correction on image frames from one image sensor to generate image frames with a similar perspective as the other image sensor. In this manner, a wide angle image may have a perspective of one of the image sensors.
In addition to reducing or removing parallax artifacts, the device 500 may reduce a perspective distortion with more success using the configuration shown in the conceptual diagram 600 than using a single camera in a camera-movement panoramic stitching mode that relies on a single camera that is physically moved (such as depicted in
Referring back to
In some other implementations, the cameras may be configured so that the center of the entrance pupils are virtually overlapping while the camera lenses of the cameras are spatially separated from one another. For example, one or more light redirection elements may be used to redirect light towards the camera lenses 606 and 608. Based on the properties and position of a light redirection element, the first camera lens 606 may be spatially separated from the second cameras lens 608 while the center of the entrance pupils virtually overlap. In this manner, the image sensors may still be configured to capture image frames that conform to the conceptual diagram 600 of having overlapping camera lens 606 and 608 in
As used herein, a redirection element may be any suitable element configured to redirect light traveling along a first path towards a second path. The redirection element may reflect or refract the light. In some implementations, the redirection element may include a mirror to reflect the light. As used herein, a mirror may refer to any suitable reflective surface (such as a reflective coating, mirrored glass, and so on).
For example, a first ray of light follows an initial path 720 before reaching the light redirection element 706 and being redirected onto a redirected path 722 directed to the camera lens 704 and the image sensor 702. The first ray of light reaches the camera lens 704 and the image sensor 702 along the redirected path 722. A virtual extension 724 of the initial path 720 beyond the light redirection element 706 is illustrated in a dotted line and is instead directed to, and reaches, the virtual camera lens 710 and the virtual image sensor 708. A second ray of light and a third ray of light are also illustrated in
The reflective surface (e.g., mirror) of the redirection element 706 can form a virtual image positioned behind the reflective surface (e.g., mirror) of the redirection element 706 (to the right of the of the redirection element 706 as illustrated in
The conceptual diagram 800 in
In some implementations, the redirection elements 810 and 812 may be positioned on an outside of a device. For example, a component including the redirection elements may be coupled to the device 500 to direct light through one or more openings in the device 500 towards the image sensors of the first camera 501 and the second camera 502. In some examples, the device 500 may include the redirection elements disposed on an outer surface of the device 500. In some examples, the redirection elements may be disposed inside of a device. For example, the device may include one or more openings and/or apertures to allow light to enter the device (such as light from the scene to be captured for generating a wide angle image). The openings/apertures may include glass or another transparent material to allow light to pass, which may be shaped into one or more lenses. The opening may or may not include one or more lenses or other components to adjust the direction of light into the device. The redirection elements 810 and 812 may be positioned along the optical path between a device opening and the associated image sensor 802 or 804.
While the redirection elements 810 and 812 are illustrated as two separate mirrors, the redirection elements 810 and 812 may be one redirection element. For example, the redirection elements 810 and 812 may physically connect on one side to be one redirection element. Additionally, the arrangement of the image sensors 802 and 804 are illustrated as being oriented towards each other. For instance, the optical axes of the image sensors 802 and 804 may be aligned and/or may be parallel to one another. However, the image sensors and lenses may be arranged in any suitable manner to receive light from a desired field of view of a scene. For instance, the optical axes of the image sensors 802 and 804 may be not aligned and/or may be not parallel to one another and/or may be at an angle relative to one another. The present disclosure is not limited to the arrangement of the components in the depiction in
In some implementations, the image sensors 802 and 804 are configured to capture an image frame concurrently and/or contemporaneously (such as at least a portion of the exposure windows overlapping for the image frames). In this manner, local motion and global motion is reduced (thus reducing distortions in a generated wide angle image). In some implementations, the image sensors 802 and 804 are configured to capture an image frame concurrently, contemporaneously, and/or within a shared time window. The shared time window may, for example, have a duration of one or more picoseconds, one or more nanoseconds, one or more milliseconds, one or more centiseconds, one or more deciseconds, one or more seconds, or a combination thereof. Additionally, since the angle between the image sensors 802 and 804 is static, a device may be configured to reduce perspective distortion based on the known angles.
In some implementations, light to the first image sensor 802 and light to the second image sensor 804 may be refracted (e.g., through a high refractive index medium) to reduce a perspective distortion and/or light vignetting at the camera aperture. Light propagating in a high refractive index material has a smaller divergence angle before existing the medium, reducing vignetting at a lens aperture that is located near the existing surface of the high refractive medium. Refraction may alternatively or additionally be used to adjust a field of view of the image sensors 802 and 804. For example, the field of view may be widened to widen the field of view of the wide angle image. In another example, the field of view may be shifted to allow for different spacings between the image sensors 802 and 804. Refraction may be used to allow further physical separation between the camera lenses 806 and 808 while still allowing the center of the entrance pupils to virtually overlap. For example, a prism may refract light intended for a respective image sensor, and the prism may affect the location of the entrance pupil associated with the image sensor. Based on the refraction, additional physical spacing between camera lenses may be allowed while still allowing a virtual overlap of the center of the entrance pupils. In some implementations, a redirection element may include a prism. At least one of the surfaces on the prism can include a reflective surface, such as a mirror. In this manner, one or more redirection elements including prisms may be configured to refract and/or reflect light directed towards the first image sensor 802 or the second image sensor 804.
The redirection elements 910 and 912 may include one or more prisms. Each prisms can include a high refractive index medium (e.g., having a refractive index above a threshold). As depicted, a first redirection element 910 redirects a first light (e.g., including one or more rays of light) from a first path that approaches the first redirection element 910 to a redirected first path towards the first image sensor 902. The first path may be referred to as the initial first path. A second redirection element 912 redirects a second light (e.g., including one or more rays of light) from a second path that approaches the second redirection element 912 to a redirected second path towards the second image sensor 904. The second path may be referred to as the initial second path. The location of the redirection elements 910 and 912 may be as described with reference to
In
Due to the refraction of the first prism (first redirection element 910), the first light may be redirected upon exiting the first prism (first redirection element 910), from the reflected first path to a post-prism first path. Similarly, after being reflected by the second mirror on side 920, the second light exits the second prism (second redirection element 912). Due to the refraction of the second prism (second redirection element 912), the second light may be redirected upon exiting the second prism (second redirection element 912), from the reflected second path to a post-prism second path.
In some examples, the first light may further be redirected (e.g., via refraction) from the post-prism first path to a post-lens first path by the first lens 906. In some examples, the second light may further be redirected (e.g., via refraction) from the post-prism second path to a post-lens second path by the second lens 908. In this manner, each redirection element 910 and 912 may include a prism, with one side of the prism including a reflective coating. Light passing through the prism and reaching the reflective coating is reflected or folded back towards the respective image sensor. In some other implementations, a redirection element may include separate reflective and refractive components. For example, the first mirror or the second mirror may be a separate component from the first prism and the second prism, respectively.
As used herein, a prism may refer to any suitable light refracting object, such as a glass or plastic prism of a suitable shape. Suitable shapes may include a triangular prism, hexagonal prism, and so on with angles of surfaces configured to refract light from the scene as desired. In some implementations, the redirection elements include an equilateral triangular prism (or other suitable sided triangular prism for refracting light). In the conceptual diagram 900, side 922 of the first redirection element 910 is approximately aligned on the same plane as side 924 of the second redirection element. The prisms may be configured so that each camera includes an approximately 70 degree angle of view (a field of view having an angle of approximately 70 degrees). In some implementations, the sides 922 and 924 are coated with an anti-reflective coating to prevent reflecting light to be captured by the image sensor 902 and 904. In some implementations, the prism surfaces that face the camera lenses are also coated with an anti-reflective coating to prevent light reflecting from these surfaces.
In some examples, the post-lens first path may be referred to as the redirected first path. In some examples, the post-prism first path may be referred to as the redirected first path. In some examples, the reflected first path may be referred to as the redirected first path. In some examples, the refracted first path may be referred to as the redirected first path. In some examples, the post-lens second path may be referred to as the redirected second path. In some examples, the post-prism second path may be referred to as the redirected second path. In some examples, the reflected second path may be referred to as the redirected second path. In some examples, the refracted second path may be referred to as the redirected second path. In some examples, the prism-approaching first path may be referred to as the first path or as the initial first path. In some examples, the refracted first path may be referred to as the first path or as the initial first path. In some examples, the prism-approaching second path may be referred to as the second path or as the initial second path. In some examples, the refracted second path may be referred to as the second path or as the initial second path.
The first prism or the second prism may be configured to refract light from a portion of the scene in order to adjust a focus distance. For example, the first prism and the second prism may be shaped such that the entrance and exit angles of light for the prisms allow the associated camera lenses 906 and 908 to be in different positions while still having the same effect of the conceptual diagram 600 in
The first virtual lens 926 can be conceptualized as a virtual position, orientation, and/or pose that the first lens 906 would have in order to receive the first light that the first lens 906 actually receives, if that first light had continued along a virtual extension of its first path (extending beyond the first redirection element 910) instead of being redirected toward the first lens 906 and the first image sensor 902 by the at least part of the first redirection element 910. The second virtual lens 928 can be conceptualized as a virtual position, orientation, and/or pose that the second lens 908 would have in order to receive the second light that the second lens 908 actually receives, if that second light had continued along a virtual extension of its second path (extending beyond the second redirection element 912) instead of being redirected toward the second lens 908 and the second image sensor 904 by the at least part of the second redirection element 912.
Similarly, the first virtual image sensor 914 can be conceptualized as a virtual position, orientation, and/or pose that the first image sensor 902 would have in order to receive the first light that the first image sensor 902 actually receives, if that first light had continued along a virtual extension of its first path instead of being redirected toward the first lens 906 and the first image sensor 902 by the at least part of the first redirection element 910. The second virtual image sensor 916 can be conceptualized as a virtual position, orientation, and/or pose that the second image sensor 904 would have in order to receive the second light that the second image sensor 904 actually receives, if that second light had continued along a virtual extension of its initial second path instead of being redirected toward the second lens 908 and the second image sensor 904 by the at least part of the second redirection element 912.
In some examples, the distance between the first redirection element 910 and the first lens 906 is equal to the distance between the first redirection element 910 and the first virtual lens 926. In some examples, the distance between the first redirection element 910 and the first image sensor 902 is equal to the distance between the first redirection element 910 and the first virtual image sensor 914. In some examples, the distance between the second redirection element 912 and the second lens 908 is equal to the distance between the second redirection element 912 and the second virtual lens 928. In some examples, the distance between the second redirection element 912 and the second image sensor 904 is equal to the distance between the second redirection element 912 and the second virtual image sensor 916.
In some examples, the optical distance between the reflection surface (on side 918) first redirection element 910 and the first lens 906 is about equal to the optical distance between the reflection surface of the first redirection element 910 and the first virtual lens 926. In some examples, the optical distance between the reflection surface of first redirection element 910 and the first image sensor 902 is about equal to the optical distance between the reflection surface of first redirection element 910 and the first virtual image sensor 914. In some examples, the optical distance between the reflection surface of the second redirection element 912 and the second lens 908 is about equal to the optical distance between the reflection surface of the second redirection element 912 and the second virtual lens 928. In some examples, the optical distance between the reflection surface of the second redirection element 912 and the second image sensor 904 is about equal to the optical distance between the second reflection surface of the redirection element 912 and the second virtual image sensor 916.
Identifying the virtual positions, orientations, and/or poses corresponding to the first virtual lens 926, the second virtual lens 928, the first virtual image sensor 914, and the second virtual image sensor 916 can include conceptual removal or omission of at least part of the first redirection element 910 and at least part the second redirection element 912, such as conceptual removal or omission of at least the reflective surface (e.g., mirror) on side 918 of the first prism, the reflective surface (e.g., mirror) on side 920 of the second prism, the first prism itself, the second prism itself, or a combination thereof. The prior path of the first light can include the path of the first light before the first light entered the first prism or the path of the first light after the first light entered the first prism but before the first light was redirected by the reflective surface (e.g., mirror) on side 918 of the first prism. The prior path of the second light can include the path of the second light before the second light entered the second prism or the path of the second light after the second light entered the second prism but before the second light was redirected by the reflective surface (e.g., mirror) on side 920 of the second prism.
The first virtual lens 926 can be referred to as a virtual lens of the first lens 906, a virtual position of the first lens 906, a virtual orientation of the first lens 906, a virtual pose of the first lens 906, or a combination thereof. The second virtual lens 928 can be referred to as a virtual lens of the second lens 908, a virtual position of the second lens 908, a virtual orientation of the second lens 908, a virtual pose of the second lens 908, or a combination thereof. The first virtual image sensor 914 can be referred to as a virtual image sensor of the first image sensor 902, a virtual position of the first image sensor 902, a virtual orientation of the first image sensor 902, a virtual pose of the first image sensor 902, or a combination thereof. The second virtual image sensor 916 can be referred to as a virtual image sensor of the second image sensor 904, a virtual position of the second image sensor 904, a virtual orientation of the second image sensor 904, a virtual pose of the second image sensor 904, or a combination thereof. Based on refraction, the spacing between the first camera lens 906 and the second camera lens 908 may be less than the spacing between the first camera lens 806 and the second camera lens 808 in
The reflective surface (e.g., mirror) on side 918 of the first redirection element 910 can form a virtual image positioned behind the reflective surface (e.g., mirror) on side 918 of the first redirection element 910 (below and to the right of the first redirection element 910 as illustrated in
In some implementations, the first prism and the second prism are physically separated from each other (such as by ½ millimeter (mm)). The spacing may be to prevent the prisms from bumping each other and causing damage to the prisms. In some other implementations, the first prism and the second prism may be physically connected. For example, the first prism and the second prism may be connected at one of their corners so that the first redirection element 910 and the second redirection element 912 are the same redirection element with multiple prisms and mirrors for refracting and reflecting light for the first image sensor 902 and the second image sensor 904.
Similar to as described above with reference to
As noted above, image frames captured by the image sensors 802, 804, 902, or 904 can include a perspective distortion. However, because the perspectives captured by the image sensors 802, 804, 902, and 904 are known and are static, perspective distortion compensation techniques can in some cases be applied consistently to every image captured by each of the image sensors 802, 804, 902, and 904.
In capturing the scene 1002, the image sensor 1004 may also capture areas outside of the scene 1002 (such as illustrated by the white triangles in the image frame 1006 from the sensor). In some implementations of a perspective distortion correction 1022, the device 500 processes the captured image frame 1006 so that the resulting processed image 1008 includes just the illustrated portions of the scene 1002, without the additional captured scene information in captured image frame 1006. The device 500 takes the left portion of the captured image frame 1006 including the illustrated portion of the scene 1002 (excluding the additional portions of the captured scene above and below the scene 1002 as illustrated by the white triangles) and adjusts the remainder of the captured image frame 1006 to the left portion of the scene 1002 in captured image frame 1006 to generate image 1008. The portion taken from the left of the captured image frame 1006 (corresponding to the illustrated portion of the scene 1002) may be based on a field of view of the image sensor, the common perspective to which the captured image frame 1006 is to be adjusted, and the perspective of the other image sensor capturing a different portion of the scene not illustrated. For example, based on the two perspectives of the cameras, the common perspective, and the field of view, the device 500 may use a range of image pixels in the left column of image pixels of the captured image frame 1006 for the processed image 1008.
Similarly, the portion taken from the right of the image frame 1006 (corresponding to the illustrated portion of the scene 1002) may be based on a field of view of the image sensor, the common perspective to which the image frame 1006 is to be adjusted, and the perspective of the other image sensor capturing a different portion of the scene not illustrated. For example, based on the two perspectives of the cameras, the common perspective, and the field of view, the device 500 may use a range of image pixels in the right column of image pixels of the captured image frame 1006 for the processed image 1008. In the example captured image frame 1006, all of the pixels in the furthest right column of the captured image frame 1006 include information from the illustrated portion of the scene 1002 (the white triangles indicating additional portions of the captured scene captured in the captured image frame 1006 end at the right column of image pixels in image frame 1006).
As shown, the illustrated portion of the scene 1002 is skewed in image frame 1006 from the smaller range of image pixels in the left column of image pixels of the image frame 1006 to the larger range of image pixels in the right column of image pixels of the image frame 1006. The rate at which the number of pixels in the range increase when moving through the columns of image pixels from left to right may be linear (which the device 500 may determine based on a linear regression of range of pixels based on the column or a defined mapping of range of pixels at each column). In this manner, the image pixels in a column of image pixels of the image frame 1006 to be used for the processed image 1008 may be a mapping based on the distance of the pixel column from the left column and from the right column. For example, if the image frame 1006 includes 100 columns of 100 pixels of scene information to be used for the image 1008 and the left column includes 50 pixels of scene information to be used for the image 1008, the 50th column may include approximately 75 pixels of scene information to be used for the image 1008 (0.5*50+0.5*100). In addition, the pixels of scene information to be used for the processed image 1008 may be centered at the center of the column of the image frame 1006. Continuing the previous example, the 50th column may include 12 or 13 pixels at the bottom of the column not to be used and may include 13 or 12 pixels at the top of the column not to be used.
Based on the desired common perspective for a combined image, the device may adjust the pixel values of a captured image frame (such as image frame 1006) using the selected pixels of scene information to generate the processed image 1008. The device 500 may generate the combined image in response to modification of the captured image frame 1006 to generate the processed image 1008. Adjusting the pixel values causes the horizontal lines that are parallel in the scene 1002 (which are shown as slanted to one another in the image frame 1006 because of perspective distortion) to again be parallel in the image 1008. To adjust pixel values for the image 1008 (so that, in the example, the horizontal lines are parallel in the image 1008), the device 500 may “stretch” pixel values in the image frame 1006 to cover multiple pixels. For example, stretching a pixel value in the image frame 1006 to cover multiple pixels values in the processed image 1008 may include using the pixel value at multiple pixel locations in the image 1008. Conversely, the device 500 may combine multiple pixel values in the image frame 1006 to be used for fewer pixel values in the image 1008 (such as by averaging or other combinatorial means). A binning or a filtering based (such as an averaging, median filtering, and so on) perspective distortion correction 1022 process may be applied to pixel values to adjust the captured image of the scene 1002 in image frame 1006 to generate the processed image 1008. In the example, the process is illustrated as being performed in the vertical direction. However, the process may also be applied in the horizontal direction to prevent the scene 1002 from appearing stretched in the processed image 1008. While some example filters for perspective distortion correction 1022 are described, any suitable filter may be used to combine pixel values to generate the processed image 1008 in the correction of perspective distortion. As a result of the perspective distortion correction, the processed image 1008 may be horizontally and/or vertically smaller or larger than the image frame 1006 (in terms of number of pixels).
While the implementations above describe determining a portion of an image frame to be adjusted in correcting perspective distortion, in some implementations, one or more image sensors may be configured to adjust the readout for an image frame based on a perspective distortion correction. For example, an image sensor 1004 may be configured to readout from specific image sensor pixels (such as excluding image sensor pixels capturing scene information in the white triangles of image frame 1006). In some implementations, a device may be configured to adjust which lines (or line portions) of pixels of the image sensor are to be readout based on the portion of the scene 1002 to be included in the processed image 1008. Perspective distortion may then be performed on the image frame (which includes only a subset of pixel data from the image sensor 1004). The perspective distortion function may be based on the number of pixels readout from the image sensor. Since image frames from both cameras include perspective distortion with reference to the intended perspective for the combined image, the device 500 may perform perspective distortion correction on image frames from both cameras.
Stitching may be any suitable stitching process to generate the combined image. In some implementations, the field of view of the first camera 501 overlaps the field of view of the second camera 502. For example, the first camera 501, the second camera 502, and the one or more redirection elements 503 are arranged so that the fields of view overlap by ½ of a degree to 5 degrees. After correcting the perspective distortion, the device 500 uses the overlapping portions in the captured frames from the two cameras 501 and 502 to align and combine the two image frames to generate the combined image. Since an overlap exists, the device 500 may reduce stitching errors based on aligning the captured image frames. In some implementations, the device 500 may compensate for a change in overlap over time (such as if the device 500 is dropped or bumped, repeated temperature changes cause shifts in one or more components, and so on). For example, an overlap may begin at 5 degrees at device production, but over time, the overlap may increase to 7 degrees. The device 500 may use object detection and matching in the overlapping scene portion of the two image frames to align the image frames and generate the combined image (instead of using a static merging filter based on a fixed overlap and arrangement of components). Through alignment and matching of objects in the overlapping scene portion of two image frames, the device 500 may use any overlap (as long as of sufficient size, such as ½ of a degree) to stitch the image frames together to generate the combined image.
In addition to reducing stitching distortions and reducing perspective distortions, the device 500 may reduce a non-uniform brightness distortion in a combined image. One or more camera lenses can be configured to image the scene onto an image sensor. The relative illumination of the image formed by the lens can follow a low or minimum of I(θ)=Io×cos4θ, where θ is the angle between the incoming ray and the normal of the lens, Io is a constant and I(θ) is the illumination of the image pixel illuminated by the incoming light at an angle of θ. Light normal to the lens (θ=0) will be focused to the center of the sensor, and light at the largest angle (say θ=30°) will be focused onto the edge of the sensor). As such, the image brightness at the edge is cos4(30°)=0.56 of the brightness at the center. Additionally, the light redirection components, such as the mirrors in
Additionally, in some cases, the first camera 501 and the second camera 502, may receive unequal amounts of light, may process light and/or image data differently (e.g., due to differences in camera hardware and/or software), and/or may be miscalibrated. Unequal levels of brightness or another image property between a first image frame from the first camera 501 and a second image frame from the second camera 502 can cause a visible seam in a combined image generated by combining the first image with the second image. In some examples, the device 500 may increase or decrease brightness in a first image frame from the first camera 501, may increase or decrease brightness in a second image frame from the second camera 502, or both. The device 500 may make these brightness adjustments before the device 500 combines the first image and the second image to generate the combined image. Such brightness adjustments can ensure that there is no visible seam in the combined image (e.g., between the portion of the combined image that is from the first image and the portion of the combined image that is from the second image).
In some implementations, an indication of the illumination of different portions of the image sensor based on the illumination of the image sensor center (such as a fraction, decimal or ratio indicating the difference for each portion) may be determined. For example, the graph 1064 may be known based on the type of camera or determined during calibration of the camera (with the graph 1064 being embodied to cover a two dimensional area for the image sensor). In some implementations, graph 1064 can be obtained during a calibration by capturing image frames of a test scene (such as a scene with a uniform background) using a uniform illumination. The pixel values of the processed image (without uniformity correction) may thus indicate the change in illumination relative to a location in the image. With such indications or the graph 1064 known for the first camera 501 and the second camera 502, the device performs a brightness uniformity correction 1062 to generate an image with a uniform correction (as shown in graph 1066).
In some implementations, the device 500 increases the brightness of image pixels in the image frame (such as increasing a luminance value in a YUV color space or similarly increasing RGB values in an RGB color space). The amount to increase the brightness of an image pixel may be to divide the current brightness value by the fraction of illumination between the associated image sensor pixel and the image sensor center (such as based on graph 1064). In this manner, each image pixel's brightness may be increased to be similar to an image pixel's brightness of the image sensor center (as shown in graph 1066).
The device 500 may thus generate a combined image including corrected perspective distortion, reduced stitching artifacts, and reduced brightness distortion (non-uniform brightness) using one or more redirection elements 503 to direct light to the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 for image frame capture.
Some implementations of the one or more redirection elements and cameras may cause a scattering noise in a combined image.
One or more redirection elements 503 are configured to prevent redirecting light from a camera lens back towards the camera lens. For example, the redirection elements 1110 may be configured to prevent reflecting light from the camera lens 1106 back towards the camera lens 1106 (and similar for the other redirection element). In some implementations, a portion of one or more edges of the prism is prevented from scattering light. In preventing the portions from scattering light, one or more of the chamfered edges of the prism are prevented from scattering light. For example, a light absorbing coating may be applied to the top right chamfered edge of the prism in the example in
In some other implementations to reduce the scattering noise caused by reflections from the camera lenses and subsequently scattered by a prism edge, the first redirection element and the second redirection element may be combined into a single redirection element so that the top-right corner of the left prism and the top-left corner of the right prism are effectively eliminated (do not physically exist).
The redirection element 1210 includes a first prism 1212 to refract light intended for the first image sensor 1202 and a second prism 1214 to refract light intended for the second image sensor 1204. A first mirror may be on side 1216 of the first prism 1212, and a second mirror may be on side 1218 of the second prism 1214 (similar to redirection elements 910 and 912 in
In this manner, light received near the center of the side 1220 of the redirection element may be reflected towards the first image sensor 1202 or the second image sensor 1204 based on which side 1216 or 1218 receives the light. Light reflected back by the camera lens 1206 and the camera lens 1208 towards the redirection element 1210 does not hit the prism corner edge (as illustrated in
In some implementations of manufacturing the redirection element 1210, an injection molding of the desired shape (such as including two contiguous/overlapping triangular or equilateral triangular prisms) is filled with a plastic having a desired refractive index. After creating a plastic element shaped as desired, two surfaces of the plastic element have a reflective coating applied (such as sides 1216 and 1218). In some implementations, an anti-reflective coating is applied to the top side to receive light from the scene (such as side 1220). An anti-reflective coating may also be applied to the sides of the prisms oriented towards the camera lenses 1206 and 1208. In some implementations, a proximal side and a distal side of the redirection element 1210 also include a non-reflective and/or light-absorbing coating. In some examples, the coating may be opaque. In some examples, the coating may be black, dark grey, or a dark color. With the top corners of the prisms 1212 and 1214 closest to each other overlapping, the cameras may be positioned to ensure the virtual center of the first lens 1206 and the second lens 1208 virtually overlap while remaining physically separate as in
While virtual lenses corresponding to the first lens 1206 and the second lens 1208 are not illustrated in
In some cases, the first prism 1212 may be referred to as a first light redirection element, and the second prism 1214 may be referred to as a second light redirection element. In some cases, an edge of the first light redirection element physically overlaps with, and is joined to, an edge of the second light redirection element. In some cases, an edge of the first prism physically overlaps with, and is joined to, an edge of the second prism. In some cases, the first side 1216 (having a reflective surface) of the first prism 1212 may be referred to as a first light redirection element, and the second side 1218 (having a reflective surface) of the second prism 1214 may be referred to as a second light redirection element. The redirection element 1210 may be referred to as a single light redirection element, where the first light redirection element and the second light redirection element are two distinct portions of the single light redirection element.
As shown above, one or more redirection elements may be used in directing light from a scene towards multiple cameras. The multiple cameras capture image frames to be combined to generate a wide angle image. Such as wide angle image includes less distortion caused by lens curvature and may have a wider angle of view than other single cameras for wide-angle imaging.
Before, concurrently with, contemporaneously with, and/or after combining a first image frame and a second image frame to generate a combined image, the device 500 may perform other processing filters on the combined image or the captured image frames. For example, the image frames may have different color temperatures or light intensities. Other example processing may include imaging processing filters performed during the image processing pipeline, such as denoising, edge enhancement, and so on. After processing the image, the device 500 may store the image, output the image to another device, output the image to a display 514, and so on. In some implementations, a sequence of wide angle images may be generated in creating a wide angle video. For example, the image sensors concurrently and/or contemporaneously capture a sequence of image frames, and the device 500 processes the associated image frames as described for each in the sequence of image frames to generate a sequence of combined images for a video. Example methods for generating a combined image are described below with reference to
At operation 1302, the imaging system may receive a first image frame of a scene captured by a first camera 501. For example, after the first camera 501 captures the first image frame (including a first portion of the scene), the image signal processor 512 may receive the first image frame. The first portion of the scene may be one side of the scene. At 1304, the device 500 may also receive a second image frame of the scene captured by a second camera 502. For example, after the second camera 502 captures the second image frame (including a second portion of the scene), the image signal processor 512 may receive the second image frame. The second portion of the scene may be the other side of the scene.
At operation 1306, the imaging system may generate a combined image from the first image frame and the second image frame. The combined image includes a field of view wider than the first image frame's field of view or the second image frame's field of view. For example, the first image frame and the second image frame may be stitched together (as described above). In some implementations, an overlap in the sides of the scene captured in the image frames is used to stitch the first image frame and the second image frame.
The combined image may have parallax effects reduced or removed based on virtually overlapping the centers of the entrance pupils of the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 capturing the first image frame and the second image frame based on one or more redirection elements 503 (such as redirection elements in
While not shown in
At operation 1355, the imaging system receives a first image of a scene captured by a first image sensor. A first light redirection element redirects a first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward the first image sensor. The first image sensor captures the first image based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor. In some examples, the imaging system includes the first image sensor and/or the first light redirection element. In some examples, the first image sensor is part of a first camera. The first camera can also include a first lens. In some examples, the imaging system includes the first lens and/or the first camera.
Examples of the first image sensor of operation 1355 include the image sensor 106, the image sensor of the camera 206, the image sensor of the first camera 501, the image sensor of the second camera 502, the first image sensor 602, the second image sensor 604, the image sensor 702, the first image sensor 802, the second image sensor 804, the first image sensor 902, the second image sensor 904, the image sensor 1004, the first image sensor 1102, the second image sensor 1104, the first image sensor 1202, the second image sensor 1204, the image sensor 2030, the image sensor 2202, the image sensor 2204, another image sensor described herein, or a combination thereof. Examples of the first lens of operation 1355 include the lens 104, a lens of the camera 206, a lens of the first camera 501, a lens of the second camera 502, the first camera lens 606, the second camera lens 608, the camera lens 704, the first camera lens 806, the second camera lens 808, the first lens 906, the second lens 908, the first lens 1106, the second lens 1108, the first lens 1206, the second lens 1208, the lens 1660, the lens 2015, the lens 2206, the lens 2208, another lens described herein, or a combination thereof. Examples of the first light redirection element of operation 1355 include the light redirection element 706, the first light redirection element 810, the second light redirection element 812, the first light redirection element 910, the second light redirection element 912, the first prism of the first light redirection element 910, the second prism of the second light redirection element 912, the first reflective surface on side 918 of the light redirection element 910, the second reflective surface on side 920 of the second light redirection element 912, the first light redirection element 1110, the second light redirection element 1120, the first prism of the first light redirection element 1110, the second prism of the second light redirection element 1120, the first reflective surface on side 1112 of the first light redirection element 1110, the second reflective surface of the second light redirection element 1120, the light redirection element 1210, the first prism 1212 of the light redirection element 1210, the second prism 1214 of the light redirection element 1210, the first reflective surface on side 1216 of the light redirection element 1210, the second reflective surface on side 1218 of the second light redirection element, the prism 2105, the prism 2130, the prism 2135, the prism 2170, the prism 2175, the light redirection element 2180, the prism 2212, the prism 2214, the light redirection element 2295A, the light redirection element 2295B, the light redirection element 2295C, another prism described herein, another reflective surface described herein, another light redirection element described herein, or a combination thereof.
At operation 1360, the imaging system receives a second image of the scene captured by a second image sensor. A second light redirection element redirects a second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward the second image sensor. The second image sensor captures the second image based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor. A virtual extension of the first path beyond the first light redirection element intersects with a virtual extension of the second path intersect beyond the second light redirection element. In some examples, the imaging system includes the second image sensor and/or the second light redirection element. In some examples, the second image sensor is part of a second camera. The second camera can also include a second lens. In some examples, the imaging system includes the second lens and/or the second camera.
Examples of the second image sensor of operation 1360 include the image sensor 106, the image sensor of the camera 206, the image sensor of the first camera 501, the image sensor of the second camera 502, the first image sensor 602, the second image sensor 604, the image sensor 702, the first image sensor 802, the second image sensor 804, the first image sensor 902, the second image sensor 904, the image sensor 1004, the first image sensor 1102, the second image sensor 1104, the first image sensor 1202, the second image sensor 1204, the image sensor 2030, the image sensor 2202, the image sensor 2204, another image sensor described herein, or a combination thereof. Examples of the second lens of operation 1360 include the lens 104, a lens of the camera 206, a lens of the first camera 501, a lens of the second camera 502, the first camera lens 606, the second camera lens 608, the camera lens 704, the first camera lens 806, the second camera lens 808, the first lens 906, the second lens 908, the first lens 1106, the second lens 1108, the first lens 1206, the second lens 1208, the lens 1660, the lens 2015, the lens 2206, the lens 2208, another lens described herein, or a combination thereof. Examples of the second light redirection element of operation 1360 include the light redirection element 706, the first light redirection element 810, the second light redirection element 812, the first light redirection element 910, the second light redirection element 912, the first prism of the first light redirection element 910, the second prism of the second light redirection element 912, the first reflective surface on side 918 of the light redirection element 910, the second reflective surface on side 920 of the second light redirection element 912, the first light redirection element 1110, the second light redirection element 1120, the first prism of the first light redirection element 1110, the second prism of the second light redirection element 1120, the first reflective surface on side 1112 of the first light redirection element 1110, the second reflective surface of the second light redirection element 1120, the light redirection element 1210, the first prism 1212 of the light redirection element 1210, the second prism 1214 of the light redirection element 1210, the first reflective surface on side 1216 of the light redirection element 1210, the second reflective surface on side 1218 of the second light redirection element, another prism described herein, another reflective surface described herein, another light redirection element described herein, or a combination thereof.
In some examples, the first lens and the second lens virtually overlap. In some examples, while the first lens and the second lens virtually overlap, the first lens and second lens do not physically overlap, do not spatially overlap, are physically separate, and/or are spatially separate. For example, the first lens 906 and the second lens 908 of
The first light redirection element can include a first reflective surface. Examples of the first reflective surface can include the reflective surface of the redirection element 706, the reflective surface of the first light redirection element 810, the reflective surface on side 918 of the first light redirection element 910, the reflective surface on side 1112 of the first light redirection element 1110, the reflective surface on side 1216 of the light redirection element 1210, another reflective surface described herein, or a combination thereof. To redirect the first light toward the first image sensor, the first light redirection element uses the first reflective surface to reflect the first light toward the first image sensor. Similarly, the second light redirection element can include a second reflective surface. Examples of the second reflective surface can include the reflective surface of the redirection element 706, the reflective surface of the second light redirection element 812, the reflective surface on side 920 of the second light redirection element 912, the reflective surface on side of the second light redirection element 1120 closest to 1112 of the first light redirection element 1110, the reflective surface on side 1218 of the light redirection element 1210, another reflective surface described herein, or a combination thereof. To redirect the second light toward the second image sensor (e.g., second image sensor 904/1204), second light redirection element uses the second reflective surface to reflect the second light toward the second image sensor. The first reflective surface can be, or can include, a mirror. The second reflective surface can be, or can include, a mirror.
The first light redirection element can includes a first prism configured to refract the first light. The second light redirection element can include a second prism configured to refract the second light. In some examples, the first prism and the second prism are contiguous (e.g., as in
The first prism can include at least one chamfered edge. For instance, in the first redirection element 910 of
In some examples, the first path referenced in operations 1355 and 1360 refers to a path of the first light before the first light enters the first prism. Thus, the first path can be a path that has not yet been refracted by the first prism. For instance, in the context of
In some examples, the first prism includes a first reflective surface configured to reflect the first light. In some examples, the second prism includes a second reflective surface configured to reflect the second light. The first reflective surface can be, or can include, a mirror. The second reflective surface can be, or can include, a mirror. In some examples, the first path referenced in operations 1355 and 1360 refers to a path of the first light after the first light enters the first prism but before the first reflective surface reflects the first light. Thus, the first path can already be refracted by the first prism, but not yet reflected by the first reflective surface. For instance, in the context of
In some examples, the first image and the second image are captured contemporaneously, concurrently, simultaneously, within a shared time window, within a threshold duration of time of one another, or a combination thereof. The first light redirection element can be fixed and/or stationary relative to the first image sensor. The second light redirection element can be fixed and/or stationary relative to the second image sensor. The first light redirection element can be fixed and/or stationary relative to the second light redirection element. The first light redirection element can be is fixed and/or stationary relative to a housing of the imaging system. The second light redirection element can be is fixed and/or stationary relative to the housing of the imaging system. For instance, the first image sensor, the first light redirection element, the second image sensor, and the second light redirection element can be arranged in a fixed and/or stationary arrangement as in the various image sensors and light redirection elements depicted in
A first planar surface of the first image sensor can face a first direction, and a second planar surface of the second image sensor can face a second direction. The first direction may be an optical axis of the first image sensor and/or of a lens associated with the first image sensor and/or of a camera associated with the first image sensor. The second direction may be an optical axis of the second image sensor and/or of a lens associated with the second image sensor and/or of a camera associated with the second image sensor. The first direction and the second direction can be parallel to one another. The first camera can face the first direction as well. The second camera can face the second direction as well. The first direction and the second direction can point directly at one another. In some examples, the first planar surface of the first image sensor can face the second planar surface of the second image sensor. In some examples, the first camera can face the second camera. For example, the first image sensor 802 and the second image sensor 804 of
At operation 1365, the imaging system modifies at least one of the first image and the second image using a perspective distortion correction. The perspective distortion correction of operation 1365 may be referred to as perspective distortion. Examples of the perspective distortion correction of operation 1365 include the perspective distortion correction 1022 of
In some examples, to perform the modification(s) of operation 1365 of at least one of the first image and the second image, the imaging system modifies the first image from depicting a first perspective to depicting a common perspective using the perspective distortion correction. The imaging system modifies the second image from depicting a second perspective to depicting the common perspective using the perspective distortion correction. The common perspective can be between the first perspective and the second perspective. For instance, in
In some examples, to perform the modification(s) of operation 1365 of at least one of the first image and the second image, the imaging system identifies depictions of one or more objects in image data (of the first image and/or the second image). The imaging system modifies the image data by projecting the image data based on the depictions of the one or more objects. In some examples, the imaging system can project the image data onto a flat perspective-corrected image plane (e.g., as part of a flat perspective distortion correction 1022/1520 and/or the flat projective transformation distortion correction 1620 as in
In some examples, the imaging system modifies at least one of the first image and the second image using a brightness uniformity correction. For instance, the imaging system can remove vignetting and/or other brightness non-uniformities from the first image, the second image, or both. The brightness uniformity correction 1062 of
At operation 1370, the imaging system generates a combined image from the first image and the second image. The imaging system can generate the combined image from the first image and the second image in response to the modification of the at least one of the first image and the second image using the perspective distortion correction. The imaging system can generate the combined image from the first image and the second image in response to the modification of the at least one of the first image and the second image using the brightness uniformity correction. The combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image. For example, the combined image 1026 of
Generating the combined image from the first image and the second image can include aligning a first portion of the first image with a second portion of the second image. Generating the combined image from the first image and the second image can include stitching the first image and the second image together based on the first portion of the first image and the second portion of the second image being aligned. The digital alignment and stitching 1042 of
As noted above, the imaging system may be the device 500. The device 500 may include at least the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 configured to capture the image frames for generating the combined image. The device 500 may also include the one or more redirection elements 503.
At operation 1402, a first light redirection element redirects a first light towards the first camera 501. For example, a first light redirection element may redirect a portion of light received from an opening in the device. In some implementations, a first mirror of the first light redirection element reflects the first light towards the first camera 501 (operation 1404). In the example of
In some implementations, a first prism of the first light redirection element may also refract the first light (operation 1406). Referring back to the example of
In some implementations, a first lens directs the first light from the first light redirection element towards the first camera 501 (operation 1408). At operation 1410, the first camera 501 captures a first image frame based on the first light. At operation 1412, a second light redirection element redirects a second light towards the second camera 502. For example, a second light redirection element may redirect a portion of light received from the opening in the device. In some implementations, a second mirror of the second light redirection element reflects the second light towards the second camera 502 (operation 1414). In the example of
In some implementations, a second lens may direct the second light from the second light redirection element towards an image sensor of the second camera 502 (operation 1418). At operation 1420, the second camera 502 captures a second image frame based on the second light. As noted above, the first light redirection element and the second light redirection element (which may be separate or a single redirection element) may be positioned to allow the centers of the entrance pupils of the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 to virtually overlap. In this manner, parallax effects in the combined image may be reduced or removed. In some implementations, the second image frame is captured concurrently and/or contemporaneously with the first image frame. In this manner, multiple image frames may be concurrently and/or contemporaneously captured by the first camera 501 and the second camera 502 of the device 500 to reduce distortions in a combined image caused by global motion or local motion. The captured image frames may be provided to other components of the device 500 (such as the image signal processor 512) to process the image frames, including combining the image frames to generate a combined (wide angle) image in operation 1422, as described above).
An image frame as discussed herein can be referred to as an image, an image frame, a video frame, or a frame. An image as discussed herein can be referred to as an image, an image frame, a video frame, or a frame. A video frame as discussed herein can be referred to as an image, an image frame, a video frame, or a frame. A frame as discussed herein can be referred to as an image, an image frame, a video frame, or a frame.
The techniques described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof, unless specifically described as being implemented in a specific manner. Any features described as modules or components may also be implemented together in an integrated logic device or separately as discrete but interoperable logic devices. If implemented in software, the techniques may be realized at least in part by a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium (such as the memory 506 in the example device 500 of
The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium may comprise random access memory (RAM) such as synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), read only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), FLASH memory, other known storage media, and the like. The techniques additionally, or alternatively, may be realized at least in part by a processor-readable communication medium that carries or communicates code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed, read, and/or executed by a computer or other processor.
The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and instructions described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be executed by one or more processors, such as the processor 504 or the image signal processor 512 in the example device 500 of
The perspective distortion correction 1022 illustrated in the conceptual diagram 1020 of
A device 500 with one of the dual-camera architectures discussed herein (e.g., as illustrated in diagrams 900, 1100, 1200, 1240, and/or 1260) can produce a high quality combined image of many types of scenes using flat perspective distortion correction 1515. However, the device 500 can produce a combined image of certain types of scenes that appears visually warped and/or visually distorted when using flat perspective distortion correction 1515. For such types of scenes, use of a curved perspective distortion correction 1525 can produce a combined image with reduced or removed visual warping compared to use of flat perspective distortion correction 1515.
For example, the conceptual diagram 1500 illustrates a scene 1510 in which five soda cans are arranged in an arc partially surrounding a dual-camera device 1505, with each of the five soda cans approximately equidistant from the dual-camera device 1505. The dual-camera device 1505 is a device 500 with one of the dual-camera architectures discussed herein (e.g., as illustrated in diagrams 900, 1100, 1200, 1240, and/or 1260), that generates a combined image of the scene 1510 from two images of the scene 1510 respectively captured by the two cameras of the dual-camera device 1505 as discussed herein (e.g., as in the flow diagrams for processes 1300, 1350, or 1400).
The dual-camera device 1505 uses flat perspective distortion correction 1515 to perform perspective correction while generating a first combined image 1520. The first combined image 1520 appears visually warped. For instance, despite the fact that the five soda cans in the scene 1510 are approximately equidistant from the dual-camera device 1505, the leftmost and rightmost soda cans in the first combined image 1520 appear larger than the three central soda cans in the first combined image 1520. The leftmost and rightmost soda cans in the first combined image 1520 also appear warped themselves, with their leftmost and rightmost sides appearing to have different heights. The leftmost and rightmost soda cans in the first combined image 1520 also appear to be farther apart from the three central soda cans in the first combined image 1520 than each of the three central soda cans in the first combined image 1520 are from one another.
The dual-camera device 1505 uses a curved transformation perspective distortion correction 1525 to perform perspective correction while generating a second combined image 1530. The second combined image 1530 reduces or removes all or most of the apparent visual warping in the first combined image 1520. For instance, the five soda cans in the scene 1510 appear more similar in size to one another in the second combined image 1530 than in the first combined image 1520. The leftmost and rightmost soda cans also appear less warped themselves in the second combined image 1530 than in the first combined image 1520. The spacing between all five soda cans in the scene 1510 appears to be more consistent in the second combined image 1530 than in the first combined image 1520.
The curved perspective distortion correction 1525 may be more optimal to use than the flat perspective distortion correction 1515 in a variety of types of scenes. For example, the curved perspective distortion correction 1525 may be more optimal to use than the flat perspective distortion correction 1515 in panorama scenes of a distant horizon captured from a high altitude (e.g., a tall building or mountain).
The first diagram 1600 illustrates flat projective transformation pixel distortion correction 1620 dashed arrows that perform a flat perspective distortion correction 1515. The flat projective transformation pixel distortion correction 1620 dashed arrows project through various pixels of the first original image plane 1614 onto corresponding pixels of a perspective-corrected image plane 1625, and project through various pixels of the second original image plane 1616 onto corresponding pixels of the perspective-corrected image plane 1625. The perspective-corrected image plane 1625 represents the combined image generated by merging the first image with the second image after performing the flat perspective distortion correction 1515.
A second diagram 1650 in
In performing perspective correction on certain images, more nuanced control over the curvature of the curved perspective-corrected image plane 1630 may be useful. A more nuanced curved perspective distortion correction 1525 may be performed using the equation
Here, x″ represents a variable-curvature perspective-corrected image plane that depends on a variable P. In this equation, P is a variable that can be adjusted to adjust the strength of the curvature of the variable-curvature perspective-corrected image plane. For example, when P=1, then x″=f·tan(α), making the curved perspective-corrected image plane 1630 flat and equivalent to the flat image plane 1665 (and to the flat x axis). When P=0, then x″ is undefined—but the limit of x″ as P approaches 0 is f·a. Thus, for the purposes of the curved perspective distortion correction 1525, x″=f·a when P=0, making the variable-curvature perspective-corrected image plane strongly curved and equivalent to the curved perspective-corrected image plane 1630 (and to the curved x′ axis). If P is between 0 and 1, the variable-curvature perspective-corrected image plane is less curved than the curved perspective-corrected image plane 1630, but more curved than the flat image plane 1665. Examples of combined images generated using curved perspective distortion correction 1525 with a variable-curvature perspective-corrected image plane and P set to different values are provided in
as discussed above.
In particular, the first combined image 1710 is generated by applying curved perspective distortion correction 1525 to map image pixels onto a strongly curved perspective-corrected image plane, because P=0. The second combined image 1720 is generated by applying curved perspective distortion correction 1525 to map image pixels onto a moderately curved perspective-corrected image plane, because P=0.8. The third combined image 1730 is generated by applying perspective distortion correction 1515 to map image pixels onto a flat perspective-corrected image plane, because P=1.
All three combined images (1710, 1720, and 1730) depict the same scene, which among other things, depicts a person sitting in a chair facing a TV 1740, the chair adjacent to a couch 1750. The person sitting in the chair is near the center of the photographed scene, while the TV 1740 is on the left-hand side of the photographed scene, and the couch 1750 is on the right-hand side of the photographed scene. In the first combined image 1710 (where P=0), the TV 1740 and the couch 1750 appear too strongly horizontally squished together, curved, and/or slanted toward the camera, and thus appear unnatural. In the third combined image 1730 (where P=1), the TV 1740 and the couch 1750 appear stretched out to the sides away from the seated person, and appear unnaturally long and horizontally-stretched relative to the other objects in the scene. In the second combined image 1720 (where P=0.8), the TV 1740 and the couch 1750 appear to naturally reflect the photographed scene.
as discussed above. The graph 1800 is based on the equation
The horizontal axis of the graph 1800 represents a normalized x with P=1, or the mapping output of the flat perspective correction with an angle range 0<=α<=65 degree, The vertical axis represents x″, or the mapping outputs of the variable-curvature perspective correction with different degrees of curvatures in the same scale as the horizontal axis.
The graph 1800 illustrates five lines 1805, 1810, 1815, 1820, and 1825. The first line 1805 corresponds to P=0. The second line 1810 corresponds to P=0.4. The third line 1815 corresponds to P=0.6. The fourth line 1820 corresponds to P=0.8. The fifth line 1825 corresponds to P=1.0.
At operation 1905, the imaging system receives a first image of a scene captured by a first image sensor of a first camera. The first image corresponds to a flat planar image plane. In some examples, the first image corresponds to the flat planar image plane because the first image sensor corresponds to the flat planar image plane in shape and/or relative dimensions. In some examples, the first image corresponds to the flat planar image plane because the first image is projected onto the flat planar image plane using flat perspective distortion correction 1515.
At operation 1910, the imaging system identifies a curved perspective-corrected image plane. In some examples, the imaging system identifies the curved perspective-corrected image plane to be the curved perspective-corrected image plane 1630 of the diagram 1650 using the equation x′=f·a. In some examples, the imaging system imaging system identifies a curved perspective-corrected image plane to be a variable-curvature perspective-corrected image plane using the equation
At operation 1915, the imaging system generates a perspective-corrected first image at least by projecting image data of the first image from the flat planar image plane corresponding to the first image sensor onto the curved perspective-corrected image plane.
The process 1900 may be an example of the modification of the first image and/or the second image using perspective distortion of operation 1365. In some examples, the first image received in operation 1905 may be an example of the first image received in operation 1355, and the perspective-corrected first image of operation 1915 may be an example of the first image following the modifications using perspective distortion of operation 1365. In some examples, the first image received in operation 1905 may be an example of the second image received in operation 1360, and the perspective-corrected first image of operation 1915 may be an example of the second image following the modifications using perspective distortion of operation 1365.
In some examples, P may be predetermined. In the imaging system may receive user inputs from a user through a user interface of the imaging system, and the imaging system can determine P based on the user inputs. In some examples, the imaging system may automatically determine P by detecting that the scene appears warped in the first image, or is likely to appear warped if a flat perspective distortion correction 1515 alone is applied to the first image. In some examples, the imaging system may automatically determine P to fix or optimize the appearance of the scene in the first image when the imaging system determines that the scene appears warped in the first image, or is likely to appear warped if a flat perspective distortion correction 1515 alone is applied to the first image. In some examples, the imaging system may automatically determine P based on object distance, distribution, and surface orientation of objects and/or surfaces in the scene photographed in the first image. The imaging system may determine object distance, distribution, and/or surface orientation of objects and/or surfaces in the scene based on object detection and/or recognition using the first image and/or one or more other images captured by the one or more cameras of the imaging system. For example, the imaging system can use facial detection and/or facial recognition to identify human beings in the scene, how close those human beings are to the camera (e.g., based on the size of the face as determined via inter-eye distance or another measurement between facial features), which direction the human beings are facing, and so forth. The imaging system may determine object distance, distribution, and/or surface orientation of objects and/or surfaces in the scene based on one or more point cloud of the scene generated using one or more range sensors of the imaging system, such as one or more light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensors, one or more radio detection and ranging (RADAR) sensors, one or more sound navigation and ranging (SONAR) sensors, one or more sound detection and ranging (SODAR) sensors, one or more time-of-flight (TOF) sensors, one or more structured light (SL) sensors, or a combination thereof.
In some examples, the imaging system may automatically determine P to fix or optimize the appearance of human beings, faces, or another specific type of object detected in the first image using object detection, object recognition, facial detection, or facial recognition. For example, the imaging system may determine that the first image includes a depiction of an office building. The imaging system may expect the office building to have a rectangular prism shape (e.g., a box). The imaging system may automatically determine P to make the office building appear as close to the rectangular prism shape as possible in the perspective-corrected first image, and for example so that the perspective-corrected first image removes or reduces any curves in the edges of the office building that appear in the first image. The imaging system may determine that the first image includes a depiction of a person's face. The imaging system may recognize the person's face based on a comparison to other pre-stored images of the person's face, and can automatically determine P to make the person's face as depicted in the perspective-corrected first image appear as close as possible to the pre-stored images of the person's face.
In some examples, the curved perspective distortion correction can be applied only to a portion of the first image, rather than to the entirety of the first image. For example, in the combined image 1520 depicting the five soda cans, the leftmost and rightmost soda cans in the combined image 1520 appear most warped. The curved perspective distortion correction can, in some examples, be applied only to the regions of the combined image 1520 that include the depictions of the leftmost and rightmost soda cans.
In some examples, the curved perspective distortion correction can be applied to reduce various types of distortion, including distortion brought about by wide-angle lenses and/or fisheye lenses.
The image capture and processing system 2000 includes various components that are used to capture and process images of scenes (e.g., an image of a scene 2010). The image capture and processing system 2000 can capture standalone images (or photographs) and/or can capture videos that include multiple images (or video frames) in a particular sequence. A lens 2015 of the system 2000 faces a scene 2010 and receives light from the scene 2010. The lens 2015 bends the light toward the image sensor 2030. The light received by the lens 2015 passes through an aperture controlled by one or more control mechanisms 2020 and is received by an image sensor 2030.
The one or more control mechanisms 2020 may control exposure, focus, and/or zoom based on information from the image sensor 2030 and/or based on information from the image processor 2050. The one or more control mechanisms 2020 may include multiple mechanisms and components; for instance, the control mechanisms 2020 may include one or more exposure control mechanisms 2025A, one or more focus control mechanisms 2025B, and/or one or more zoom control mechanisms 2025C. The one or more control mechanisms 2020 may also include additional control mechanisms besides those that are illustrated, such as control mechanisms controlling analog gain, flash, HDR, depth of field, and/or other image capture properties.
The focus control mechanism 2025B of the control mechanisms 2020 can obtain a focus setting. In some examples, focus control mechanism 2025B store the focus setting in a memory register. Based on the focus setting, the focus control mechanism 2025B can adjust the position of the lens 2015 relative to the position of the image sensor 2030. For example, based on the focus setting, the focus control mechanism 2025B can move the lens 2015 closer to the image sensor 2030 or farther from the image sensor 2030 by actuating a motor or servo (or other lens mechanism), thereby adjusting focus. In some cases, additional lenses may be included in the system 2000, such as one or more microlenses over each photodiode of the image sensor 2030, which each bend the light received from the lens 2015 toward the corresponding photodiode before the light reaches the photodiode. The focus setting may be determined via contrast detection autofocus (CDAF), phase detection autofocus (PDAF), hybrid autofocus (HAF), or some combination thereof. The focus setting may be determined using the control mechanism 2020, the image sensor 2030, and/or the image processor 2050. The focus setting may be referred to as an image capture setting and/or an image processing setting.
The exposure control mechanism 2025A of the control mechanisms 2020 can obtain an exposure setting. In some cases, the exposure control mechanism 2025A stores the exposure setting in a memory register. Based on this exposure setting, the exposure control mechanism 2025A can control a size of the aperture (e.g., aperture size or f/stop), a duration of time for which the aperture is open (e.g., exposure time or shutter speed), a sensitivity of the image sensor 2030 (e.g., ISO speed or film speed), analog gain applied by the image sensor 2030, or any combination thereof. The exposure setting may be referred to as an image capture setting and/or an image processing setting.
The zoom control mechanism 2025C of the control mechanisms 2020 can obtain a zoom setting. In some examples, the zoom control mechanism 2025C stores the zoom setting in a memory register. Based on the zoom setting, the zoom control mechanism 2025C can control a focal length of an assembly of lens elements (lens assembly) that includes the lens 2015 and one or more additional lenses. For example, the zoom control mechanism 2025C can control the focal length of the lens assembly by actuating one or more motors or servos (or other lens mechanism) to move one or more of the lenses relative to one another. The zoom setting may be referred to as an image capture setting and/or an image processing setting. In some examples, the lens assembly may include a parfocal zoom lens or a varifocal zoom lens. In some examples, the lens assembly may include a focusing lens (which can be lens 2015 in some cases) that receives the light from the scene 2010 first, with the light then passing through an afocal zoom system between the focusing lens (e.g., lens 2015) and the image sensor 2030 before the light reaches the image sensor 2030. The afocal zoom system may, in some cases, include two positive (e.g., converging, convex) lenses of equal or similar focal length (e.g., within a threshold difference of one another) with a negative (e.g., diverging, concave) lens between them. In some cases, the zoom control mechanism 2025C moves one or more of the lenses in the afocal zoom system, such as the negative lens and one or both of the positive lenses.
The image sensor 2030 includes one or more arrays of photodiodes or other photosensitive elements. Each photodiode measures an amount of light that eventually corresponds to a particular pixel in the image produced by the image sensor 2030. In some cases, different photodiodes may be covered by different color filters, and may thus measure light matching the color of the filter covering the photodiode. For instance, Bayer color filters include red color filters, blue color filters, and green color filters, with each pixel of the image generated based on red light data from at least one photodiode covered in a red color filter, blue light data from at least one photodiode covered in a blue color filter, and green light data from at least one photodiode covered in a green color filter. Other types of color filters may use yellow, magenta, and/or cyan (also referred to as “emerald”) color filters instead of or in addition to red, blue, and/or green color filters. Some image sensors (e.g., image sensor 2030) may lack color filters altogether, and may instead use different photodiodes throughout the pixel array (in some cases vertically stacked). The different photodiodes throughout the pixel array can have different spectral sensitivity curves, therefore responding to different wavelengths of light. Monochrome image sensors may also lack color filters and therefore lack color depth.
In some cases, the image sensor 2030 may alternately or additionally include opaque and/or reflective masks that block light from reaching certain photodiodes, or portions of certain photodiodes, at certain times and/or from certain angles, which may be used for phase detection autofocus (PDAF). The image sensor 2030 may also include an analog gain amplifier to amplify the analog signals output by the photodiodes and/or an analog to digital converter (ADC) to convert the analog signals output of the photodiodes (and/or amplified by the analog gain amplifier) into digital signals. In some cases, certain components or functions discussed with respect to one or more of the control mechanisms 2020 may be included instead or additionally in the image sensor 2030. The image sensor 2030 may be a charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor, an electron-multiplying CCD (EMCCD) sensor, an active-pixel sensor (APS), a complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS), an N-type metal-oxide semiconductor (NMOS), a hybrid CCD/CMOS sensor (e.g., sCMOS), or some other combination thereof.
The image processor 2050 may include one or more processors, such as one or more image signal processors (ISPs) (including ISP 2054), one or more host processors (including host processor 2052), and/or one or more of any other type of processor 2510 discussed with respect to the processing system 2500. The host processor 2052 can be a digital signal processor (DSP) and/or other type of processor. In some implementations, the image processor 2050 is a single integrated circuit or chip (e.g., referred to as a system-on-chip or SoC) that includes the host processor 2052 and the ISP 2054. In some cases, the chip can also include one or more input/output ports (e.g., input/output (I/O) ports 2056), central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), broadband modems (e.g., 3G, 4G or LTE, 5G, etc.), memory, connectivity components (e.g., Bluetooth™, Global Positioning System (GPS), etc.), any combination thereof, and/or other components. The I/O ports 2056 can include any suitable input/output ports or interface according to one or more protocol or specification, such as an Inter-Integrated Circuit 2 (I2C) interface, an Inter-Integrated Circuit 3 (I3C) interface, a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) interface, a serial General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) interface, a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) (such as a MIPI CSI-2 physical (PHY) layer port or interface, an Advanced High-performance Bus (AHB) bus, any combination thereof, and/or other input/output port. In one illustrative example, the host processor 2052 can communicate with the image sensor 2030 using an I2C port, and the ISP 2054 can communicate with the image sensor 2030 using an MIPI port.
The image processor 2050 may perform a number of tasks, such as de-mosaicing, color space conversion, image frame downsampling, pixel interpolation, automatic exposure (AE) control, automatic gain control (AGC), CDAF, PDAF, automatic white balance, merging of image frames to form an HDR image, image recognition, object recognition, feature recognition, receipt of inputs, managing outputs, managing memory, or some combination thereof. The image processor 2050 may store image frames and/or processed images in random access memory (RAM) 2040/2020, read-only memory (ROM) 2045/2025, a cache, a memory unit, another storage device, or some combination thereof.
Various input/output (I/O) devices 2060 may be connected to the image processor 2050. The I/O devices 2060 can include a display screen, a keyboard, a keypad, a touchscreen, a trackpad, a touch-sensitive surface, a printer, any other output devices 2535, any other input devices 2545, or some combination thereof. In some cases, a caption may be input into the image processing device 2005B through a physical keyboard or keypad of the I/O devices 2060, or through a virtual keyboard or keypad of a touchscreen of the I/O devices 2060. The I/O 2060 may include one or more ports, jacks, or other connectors that enable a wired connection between the system 2000 and one or more peripheral devices, over which the system 2000 may receive data from the one or more peripheral device and/or transmit data to the one or more peripheral devices. The I/O 2060 may include one or more wireless transceivers that enable a wireless connection between the system 2000 and one or more peripheral devices, over which the system 2000 may receive data from the one or more peripheral device and/or transmit data to the one or more peripheral devices. The peripheral devices may include any of the previously-discussed types of I/O devices 2060 and may themselves be considered I/O devices 2060 once they are coupled to the ports, jacks, wireless transceivers, or other wired and/or wireless connectors.
In some cases, the image capture and processing system 2000 may be a single device. In some cases, the image capture and processing system 2000 may be two or more separate devices, including an image capture device 2005A (e.g., a camera) and an image processing device 2005B (e.g., a computing device coupled to the camera). In some implementations, the image capture device 2005A and the image processing device 2005B may be coupled together, for example via one or more wires, cables, or other electrical connectors, and/or wirelessly via one or more wireless transceivers. In some implementations, the image capture device 2005A and the image processing device 2005B may be disconnected from one another.
As shown in
The image capture and processing system 2000 can include an electronic device, such as a mobile or stationary telephone handset (e.g., smartphone, cellular telephone, or the like), a desktop computer, a laptop or notebook computer, a tablet computer, a set-top box, a television, a camera, a display device, a digital media player, a video gaming console, a video streaming device, an Internet Protocol (IP) camera, or any other suitable electronic device. In some examples, the image capture and processing system 2000 can include one or more wireless transceivers for wireless communications, such as cellular network communications, 802.11 wi-fi communications, wireless local area network (WLAN) communications, or some combination thereof. In some implementations, the image capture device 2005A and the image processing device 2005B can be different devices. For instance, the image capture device 2005A can include a camera device and the image processing device 2005B can include a computing device, such as a mobile handset, a desktop computer, or other computing device.
While the image capture and processing system 2000 is shown to include certain components, one of ordinary skill will appreciate that the image capture and processing system 2000 can include more components than those shown in
The prism coupling interface 2160 may include one or more coatings 2165. The one or more coatings 2165 may be applied to the edge 2150 of the first prism 2170, to the edge 2150 of the second prism 2175, to another element between the edge 2150 of the first prism 2170 and the edge 2150 of the second prism 2175, otherwise as part of the prism coupling interface 2160, or a combination thereof. The one or more coatings 2165 can include an adhesive, such as an epoxy, a glue, a cement, a mucilage, a paste, or a combination thereof. In some examples, the adhesive (e.g., epoxy) may have a high refractive index (e.g., higher than a threshold). In some examples, the adhesive (e.g., epoxy) may have a refractive index that differs from a refractive index of the first prism 2170 by less than a threshold. In some examples, the adhesive (e.g., epoxy) may have a refractive index that differs from a refractive index of the second prism 2170 by less than a threshold.
The one or more coatings can include a colorant, such as a paint and/or a dye. The colorant can be non-transmissive of light, non-reflective of light, and/or absorbent of light. In some examples, the colorant reflects less than a threshold amount of the light that falls on the colorant (e.g., reflects less than 10%, 5%, 1%, 0.1%, 0.01%, or less than 0.01% of that light that falls on the colorant). In some examples, the colorant absorbs at least a threshold amount of the light that falls on the colorant (e.g., absorbs at least 90%, 95%, 99%, 99.9%, 99.99%, or more than 99.99% of that light that falls on the colorant). In some examples, the colorant is black, a dark shade of grey, and/or a dark shade of a color. In some examples, the colorant includes carbon nanotubes, such as a vertically aligned nanotube array. The carbon nanotubes can be generated and/or applied using chemical vapor deposition. In some examples, the colorant includes an etched allow (e.g., nickel-phosphorous). In some examples, the carbon nanotubes can be applied to a material (e.g., aluminum, plastic) positioned between the edge 2150 of the first prism 2170 and the edge 2150 of the second prism 2175. In some examples, the colorant can be an acrylic paint. In some examples, a primer may be applied to the edge(s) 2150 and/or to the material between the edges 2150 before the colorant is applied. The colorant can be, for example, Vantablack®, Super Black®, Black 2.0®, Black 3.0®, Vantablack® VBx2®, Musou® Black, Turner® Jet Black, or a combination thereof. In some examples, the colorant and the adhesive can be a single material and/or coating 2165. In some examples, the colorant and the adhesive can be separate materials and/or coatings 2165.
In some examples, the first prism 2170 and the second prism 2175, coupled together via their respective edges 2150 at the prism coupling interface 2160 using coating(s) 2165, can be an example of the redirection element 1210. For instance, the first prism 2170 can be an example of the first prism 1212, and the second prism 2175 can be an example of the second prism 1214.
In some examples, the redirection element 1210 can be manufactured as a single piece, for example using injection molding of plastic. It may be difficult to manufacture the redirection element 1210 using other materials, such as glass or fluoride, as a single piece, while maintaining sufficient precision, accuracy, and/or consistency. It may be more precise, accurate, and/or consistent to cut 2140 and/or polish 2145 an edge 2150 for two individuals prisms (e.g., prisms 2130, 2135, 2170, 2175) and create a redirection element 1210 by coupling the edges 2150 of the two prisms at a prism coupling interface 2160 using coating(s) 2165 as illustrated in
In an illustrative example, incoming light 2230 enters the first prism 2212 through a first side 2220. The incoming light 2230 is slightly redirected by the first prism 2212 due to refraction. The incoming light 2230, both before and after entering the first prism 2212 through the first side 2220, is illustrated as a thick solid black line. The light reflects off of a reflective surface of the side 2216 of the first prism 2212 toward the first lens 2206 and the first image sensor 2202. The reflected light is still illustrated as a thick solid black line. The light exits the first prism 2212 through the side 2210, and is slightly redirected as it exits the first prism 2212 through the side 2210 due to refraction. The redirected light is still illustrated as a thick dashed black line. A first portion of the redirected light passes through the first lens 2206 and reaches the first image sensor 2202, and may be referred to as the image light 2232.
A second portion of light exiting the first prism 2212 from the side 2210 toward the first lens 2206 may reflect off of the first lens 2206 to become the reflected light 2234, which may re-enter the first prism 2212 through the side 2210. The reflected light 2234 is illustrated as a thin solid black line. The reflected light 2234 may, in some cases, be slightly redirected upon re-entering the first prism 2212 through the side 2210 due to refraction. This redirection of the reflected light 2234 is not illustrated in
The image light 2232 may reach one side of the first image sensor 2202 and thus affect image data at one side of a first image captured by the first image sensor 2202. The light noise 2238 may reach the opposite side of the first image sensor 2202 and thus affect image data at the opposite side of the first image captured by the first image sensor 2202. In the context of a combined image produced by combining a first image captured by the first image sensor 2202 and a second image captured by the second image sensor 2204, the image light 2232 may affect image data at an edge of the combined image, while the light noise 2238 may affect the image data at the center of the combined image. Examples of the combined image include the combined image 1026, the combined image generated through the digital alignment and stitching 1042 of
Incoming light entering the second prism 2214 may similarly reflect off of the second lens 2208, off of the prism coupling interface 2160, and re-enter the second lens 2208 to become light noise affecting the second image sensor 2204. This light noise, too, may add to the visual artifacts in a combined image produced by combining a first image captured by the first image sensor 2202 and a second image captured by the second image sensor 2204.
The coating(s) 2165 and/or colorant 2260 may be applied to the edge 2150 of the first prism 2212, to the edge 2150 of the second prism 2214, to another element between the edge 2150 of the first prism 2212 and the edge 2150 of the second prism 2214, otherwise as part of the prism coupling interface 2160, or a combination thereof. The coating(s) 2165 can include a colorant 2260. The colorant 2260 can be non-transmissive of light, non-reflective of light, and/or absorbent of light. In some examples, the colorant 2260 reflects less than a threshold amount of the light that falls on the colorant 2260 (e.g., reflects less than 10%, 5%, 1%, 0.1%, 0.01%, or less than 0.01% of that light that falls on the colorant 2260). In some examples, the colorant 2260 absorbs at least a threshold amount of the light that falls on the colorant 2260 (e.g., absorbs at least 90%, 95%, 99%, 99.9%, 99.99%, or more than 99.99% of that light that falls on the colorant 2260). In some examples, the colorant 2260 is black, a dark shade of grey, and/or a dark shade of a color. In some examples, the colorant 2260 includes carbon nanotubes, such as a vertically aligned nanotube array. The carbon nanotubes can be generated and/or applied using chemical vapor deposition. In some examples, the colorant 2260 includes an etched allow (e.g., nickel-phosphorous). In some examples, the carbon nanotubes can be applied to a material (e.g., aluminum, plastic) positioned between the edge 2150 of the first prism 2170 and the edge 2150 of the second prism 2175. In some examples, the colorant 2260 can be an acrylic paint. In some examples, a primer may be applied to the edge(s) 2150 and/or to the material between the edges 2150 before the colorant 2260 is applied.
The pass-through light 2288 may, in some cases, be slightly redirected upon passing through the prism coupling interface 2160 and/or the coating(s) 2165 (including the adhesive 2280) due to refraction (e.g., if the refractive index of the adhesive 2280 and/or another coating 2165 is different from the first prism 2212 and/or the second prism 2214). This redirection of the pass-through light 2288 is not illustrated in
The adhesive 2280 may be applied to the edge 2150 of the first prism 2212, to the edge 2150 of the second prism 2214, to another element between the edge 2150 of the first prism 2212 and the edge 2150 of the second prism 2214, otherwise as part of the prism coupling interface 2160, or a combination thereof. In some examples, the adhesive 2280 may have a high refractive index (e.g., higher than a threshold). The refractive index of the adhesive 2280 may be selected to be a high refractive index to match the refractive indices of the first prism 2212 and/or of the second prism 2214, which may be selected to be high. In some examples, the adhesive 2280 may have a refractive index that differs from a refractive index of the first prism 2170 by less than a threshold. In some examples, the adhesive 2280 may have a refractive index that differs from a refractive index of the second prism 2214 by less than a threshold.
In some examples, use of a colorant 2260 as in
At operation 2405, the imaging system is configured to, and can, receive a first image of a scene captured by a first image sensor. A light redirection element is configured to, and can, redirect a first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward the first image sensor. The first image sensor is configured to, and can, capture the first image based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor.
At operation 2410, the imaging system is configured to, and can, receive a second image of the scene captured by a second image sensor. The light redirection element is configured to, and can, redirect a second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward the second image sensor. The second image sensor is configured to, and can, capture the second image based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor. The light redirection element includes a first prism coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface. In some aspects, the imaging system can include the first image sensor, the second image sensor, and the light redirection element.
Examples of the light redirection element of operation 2405 and operation 2410 can include the light redirection element 1210, the light redirection element 2180, the light redirection element 2295A, the light redirection element 2295B, the light redirection element 2295C, or a combination thereof. Examples of the first image sensor of operation 2405 can include the image sensor 106, the image sensor of the camera 206, the image sensor of the first camera 501, the image sensor of the second camera 502, the first image sensor 602, the second image sensor 604, the image sensor 702, the first image sensor 802, the second image sensor 804, the first image sensor 902, the second image sensor 904, the image sensor 1004, the first image sensor 1102, the second image sensor 1104, the first image sensor 1202, the second image sensor 1204, the image sensor 2030, the image sensor 2202, the image sensor 2204, another image sensor described herein, or a combination thereof. Examples of the second image sensor of operation 2410 can include the image sensor 106, the image sensor of the camera 206, the image sensor of the first camera 501, the image sensor of the second camera 502, the first image sensor 602, the second image sensor 604, the image sensor 702, the first image sensor 802, the second image sensor 804, the first image sensor 902, the second image sensor 904, the image sensor 1004, the first image sensor 1102, the second image sensor 1104, the first image sensor 1202, the second image sensor 1204, the image sensor 2030, the image sensor 2202, the image sensor 2204, another image sensor described herein, or a combination thereof.
Examples of the first prism of operation 2405 can include the light redirection element 706, the first light redirection element 810, the second light redirection element 812, the first light redirection element 910, the second light redirection element 912, the first prism of the first light redirection element 910, the second prism of the second light redirection element 912, the first reflective surface on side 918 of the light redirection element 910, the second reflective surface on side 920 of the second light redirection element 912, the first light redirection element 1110, the second light redirection element 1120, the first prism of the first light redirection element 1110, the second prism of the second light redirection element 1120, the first reflective surface on side 1112 of the first light redirection element 1110, the second reflective surface of the second light redirection element 1120, the first prism 1212 of the light redirection element 1210, the second prism 1214 of the light redirection element 1210, the first reflective surface on side 1216 of the light redirection element 1210, the second reflective surface on side 1218 of the second light redirection element, the prism 2105, the prism 2130, the prism 2135, the prism 2170, the prism 2175, the prism 2212, the prism 2214, another prism described herein, another reflective surface described herein, another light redirection element described herein, or a combination thereof. Examples of the second prism of operation 2410 can include the light redirection element 706, the first light redirection element 810, the second light redirection element 812, the first light redirection element 910, the second light redirection element 912, the first prism of the first light redirection element 910, the second prism of the second light redirection element 912, the first reflective surface on side 918 of the light redirection element 910, the second reflective surface on side 920 of the second light redirection element 912, the first light redirection element 1110, the second light redirection element 1120, the first prism of the first light redirection element 1110, the second prism of the second light redirection element 1120, the first reflective surface on side 1112 of the first light redirection element 1110, the second reflective surface of the second light redirection element 1120, the first prism 1212 of the light redirection element 1210, the second prism 1214 of the light redirection element 1210, the first reflective surface on side 1216 of the light redirection element 1210, the second reflective surface on side 1218 of the second light redirection element, the prism 2105, the prism 2130, the prism 2135, the prism 2170, the prism 2175, the prism 2212, the prism 2214, another prism described herein, another reflective surface described herein, another light redirection element described herein, or a combination thereof.
Examples of the prism coupling interface of operation 2410 includes the prism coupling interface 2160 and/or the edge(s) 2150. Examples of the one or more coatings include the one or more coatings 2165, the colorant 2260, adhesive 2280, or a combination thereof.
In some examples, the first light can pass through a first lens before reaching the first image sensor. Examples of the first lens can include the lens 104, a lens of the camera 206, a lens of the first camera 501, a lens of the second camera 502, the first camera lens 606, the second camera lens 608, the camera lens 704, the first camera lens 806, the second camera lens 808, the first lens 906, the second lens 908, the first lens 1106, the second lens 1108, the first lens 1206, the second lens 1208, the lens 1660, the lens 2015, the lens 2206, the lens 2208, another lens described herein, or a combination thereof. In some examples, the second light can pass through a second lens before reaching the second image sensor. Examples of the second lens can include the lens 104, a lens of the camera 206, a lens of the first camera 501, a lens of the second camera 502, the first camera lens 606, the second camera lens 608, the camera lens 704, the first camera lens 806, the second camera lens 808, the first lens 906, the second lens 908, the first lens 1106, the second lens 1108, the first lens 1206, the second lens 1208, the lens 1660, the lens 2015, the lens 2206, the lens 2208, another lens described herein, or a combination thereof.
The first image sensor can be configured to, and can, capture a first image of the scene based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor. The second image sensor can be configured to, and can capture a second image of the scene based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor. Examples of each of the first image and/or the second image include at least the first image frame of
In some aspects, the first prism is configured to refract the first light. In some aspects, the second prism is configured to refract the second light. In some aspects, the first path includes a path of the first light before the first light enters the first prism. In some aspects, the second path includes a path of the second light before the second light enters the second prism. In some aspects, the first prism includes a first reflective surface configured to reflect the first light. In some aspects, the second prism includes a second reflective surface configured to reflect the second light. In some aspects, the first path includes a path of the first light after the first light enters the first prism but before the first reflective surface reflects the first light. In some aspects, the second path includes a path of the second light after the second light enters the second prism but before the second reflective surface reflects the second light. In some aspects, the first image and the second image are captured contemporaneously. In some aspects, the light redirection element is fixed relative to the first image sensor and the second image sensor. In some aspects, a first planar surface of the first image sensor faces a first direction, and a second planar surface of the second image sensor faces a second direction that is parallel to the first direction. In some aspects, the imaging system can modify at least one of the first image and the second image using a brightness uniformity correction, for instance as in
In some aspects, the light redirection element includes a first reflective surface, wherein, to redirect the first light toward the first image sensor, the light redirection element uses the first reflective surface to reflect the first light toward the first image sensor. In some aspects, the light redirection element includes a second reflective surface, wherein, to redirect the second light toward the second image sensor, the light redirection element uses the second reflective surface to reflect the second light toward the second image sensor. Examples of each of the first reflective surface and/or the second reflective surface can include the reflective surface of the redirection element 706, the reflective surface of the first light redirection element 810, the reflective surface on side 918 of the first light redirection element 910, the reflective surface on side 1112 of the first light redirection element 1110, the reflective surface on side 1216 of the light redirection element 1210, the reflective surface on side 2216 of the first prism 2212, another reflective surface described herein, or a combination thereof.
In some aspects, the one or more coatings include an epoxy. Examples of the epoxy include an adhesive corresponding to the one or more coatings 2165, the adhesive 2280, or a combination thereof. In some aspects, a refractive index of the epoxy and a refractive index of the first prism differ by less than a threshold amount. In some aspects, a refractive index of the epoxy and a refractive index of the second prism differ by less than a threshold amount. In some aspects, a refractive index of the epoxy exceeds a threshold refractive index. The refractive index 2285 is an example of the refractive index of the epoxy. In some aspects, a refractive index of the one or more coatings, a refractive index of the first prism, and a refractive index of the second prism differ from one another by less than a threshold amount.
In some aspects, the one or more coatings include a colorant. Examples of the colorant include a colorant corresponding to the one or more coatings 2165, the colorant 2260, or a combination thereof. In some aspects, the colorant is configured to be non-transmissive of at least a subset of light that reaches the coupling interface. In some aspects, the colorant is configured to be non-reflective of at least a subset of light that reaches the coupling interface. In some aspects, the colorant is configured to be absorbent of at least a subset of light that reaches the coupling interface. In some aspects, the colorant reflects less than a threshold amount of light that falls on the colorant. In some aspects, wherein the colorant absorbs at least a threshold amount of light that falls on the colorant. In some aspects, wherein the colorant is black. In some aspects, wherein the colorant includes a plurality of carbon nanotubes.
In some aspects, the first prism includes a first set of three sides and the second prism includes a second set of three sides. The first set of three sides, and the second set of three sides, may be rectangular sides (as opposed to triangular sides). Examples of the three sides include the sides 918, 920, 922, 924, 1112, 1216, 1218, 1220, 2110, 2115, and 2120. Examples of the rectangular sides include the sides 918, 920, 922, 924, 1112, 1216, 1218, 1220, 2110, 2115, and 2120. In some aspects, the first prism includes a first prism coupling side that is perpendicular to a second side of the first prism, wherein the second prism includes a second prism coupling side that is perpendicular to a second side of the second prism, wherein the coupling interface couples the first prism coupling side of the first prism to the second prism coupling side of the second prism. Examples of the first prism coupling side and the second prism coupling side include the edges 2150. Examples of the first prism coupling side being perpendicular to the second side of the first prism, and the second prism coupling side being perpendicular to the second side of the second prism, includes the edges 2150 being perpendicular to the sides 2120 of the prisms 2170-2175. In some examples, the first prism coupling side and the second prism coupling side can be rectangular. In some aspects, a shape of the first prism is based on a first triangular prism with a first cut (e.g., cut 2140) along a first edge between two sides of the first triangular prism to form a first prism coupling side (e.g., edge 2150), wherein a shape of the second prism is based on a second triangular prism with a second cut (e.g., cut 2140) along a second edge between two sides of the second triangular prism to form a second prism coupling side (e.g., edge 2150), wherein the coupling interface couples the first prism coupling side of the first prism to the second prism coupling side of the second prism. In some aspects, the first prism coupling side is smoothed after the first cut using at least one of grinding or polishing, wherein the second prism coupling side is smoothed after the second cut using at least one of grinding or polishing. In some aspects, the first prism coupling side is at least partially coated using the one or more coatings. Examples of each of the first prism coupling side include the edge 2150. Examples of the cut include the cut 2140. Examples of the smoothing includes the polishing 2145.
In some aspects, the first prism includes a first edge based on a first cut to the first prism, wherein the second prism includes a second edge based on a second cut to the second prism, wherein the coupling interface couples the first edge of the first prism to the second edge of the second prism. In some aspects, the first edge is smoothed through at least one of grinding and polishing, wherein the second edge is smoothed through at least one of grinding and polishing. Examples of each of the first edge and/or the second edge include the edge 2150. Examples of the cut include the cut 2140. Examples of the smoothing includes the polishing 2145.
At operation 2415, the imaging system is configured to, and can, generate a combined image from the first image and the second image. The combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image. Examples of the combined image include the combined image 308, the combined image 408, the combined image 1026, the combined image created through digital alignment and stitching 1042 in
In some aspects, a virtual extension of the first path beyond the light redirection element intersects with a virtual extension of the second path beyond the light redirection element. An example of such an intersection is illustrated at the intersection of the first virtual lens 926 and the second virtual lens 928 in
In some aspects, the imaging system can modify at least one of the first image and the second image using a perspective distortion correction before generating the combined image from the first image and the second image. In some aspects, to modify at least one of the first image or the second image using the perspective distortion correction, the imaging system is configured to: modify the first image from depicting a first perspective to depicting a third perspective using the perspective distortion correction; and modify the second image from depicting a second perspective to depicting the third perspective using the perspective distortion correction, wherein the third perspective is between the first perspective and the second perspective. In some aspects, to modify at least one of the first image or the second image using the perspective distortion correction, the imaging system is configured to: identify depictions of one or more objects in image data of at least one of the first image or the second image; and modify the image data at least in part by projecting the image data based on the depictions of the one or more objects. Examples of the distortion correction are illustrated in
In some aspects, to modify at least one of the first image and the second image using the perspective distortion correction, the imaging system can identify depictions of one or more objects in image data of at least one of the first image and the second image, and can modify the image data at least in part by projecting the image data based on the depictions of the one or more objects. Examples of such projection are illustrated in, and described with respect to,
In some aspects, the imaging system can generate the combined image from the first image and the second image at least in part by aligning a first portion of the first image with a second portion of the second image, and stitching the first image and the second image together based on the first portion of the first image and the second portion of the second image being aligned. Examples of such aligning and stitching are illustrated in, and described with respect to,
In some aspects, the methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable medium described above further comprise: the first prism of the light redirection element. In some aspects, the methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable medium described above further comprise: the second prism of the light redirection element. In some aspects, the methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable medium described above further comprise: the light redirection element.
In some aspects, the imaging system can include: means for receiving a first image of a scene captured by a first image sensor, wherein a light redirection element is configured to redirect a first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward the first image sensor, wherein the first image sensor is configured to capture the first image based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor; means for receiving a second image of the scene captured by a second image sensor, wherein the light redirection element is configured to redirect a second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward the second image sensor, wherein the second image sensor is configured to capture the second image based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor, wherein the light redirection element includes a first prism coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and means for generating a combined image from the first image and the second image, wherein the combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image.
In some examples, the means for receiving the first image can include the first image sensor 1202, the second image sensor 1204, the image sensor 2202, the image sensor 2204, another image sensor described herein, or a combination thereof. In some examples, the means for receiving the second image can include the first image sensor 1202, the second image sensor 1204, the image sensor 2202, the image sensor 2204, another image sensor described herein, or a combination thereof. In some examples, the means for generating the combined image can include the ISP 512, the processor 504, another processor discussed herein, or a combination thereof.
At operation 2455, the imaging system is configured to, and can, receive, at a first prism, first light from a scene. Examples of the first prism include the examples of the first prism listed above with respect to the process 2400.
At operation 2460, the imaging system is configured to, and can, redirect, using the first prism, the first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward a first image sensor. Examples of the first light include the examples of the first light listed above with respect to the process 2400.
At operation 2465, the imaging system is configured to, and can, receive, at a second prism, second light from a scene, wherein the first prism is coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface. Examples of the second prism include the examples of the second prism listed above with respect to the process 2400.
At operation 2470, the imaging system is configured to, and can, redirect, using the second prism, the second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward a second image sensor. Examples of the second light include the examples of the second light listed above with respect to the process 2400.
In some examples, the first image sensor is configured to capture a first image of the scene based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor, wherein the second image sensor is configured to capture a second image of the scene based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor.
In some examples, the imaging system is configured to, and can, receive the first image of the scene from the first image sensor, receive the second image of the scene captured from the second image sensor, and generate a combined image from the first image and the second image. The combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image.
In some examples, the imaging system is configured to, and can, modify at least one of the first image and the second image using a perspective distortion correction. Generating the combined image from the first image and the second image is performed in response to modifying at least the one of the first image and the second image using the perspective distortion correction.
In some aspects, the imaging system can include: means for receiving, at a first prism, first light from a scene; means for redirecting, using the first prism, the first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward a first image sensor; means for receiving, at a second prism, second light from a scene, wherein the first prism is coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and means for redirecting, using the second prism, the second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward a second image sensor.
In some embodiments, computing system 2500 is a distributed system in which the functions described in this disclosure can be distributed within a datacenter, multiple data centers, a peer network, etc. In some embodiments, one or more of the described system components represents many such components each performing some or all of the function for which the component is described. In some embodiments, the components can be physical or virtual devices.
Example system 2500 includes at least one processing unit (CPU or processor) 2510 and connection 2505 that couples various system components including system memory 2515, such as read-only memory (ROM) 2520 and random access memory (RAM) 2525 to processor 2510. Computing system 2500 can include a cache 2512 of high-speed memory connected directly with, in close proximity to, or integrated as part of processor 2510.
Processor 2510 can include any general purpose processor and a hardware service or software service, such as services 2532, 2534, and 2536 stored in storage device 2530, configured to control processor 2510 as well as a special-purpose processor where software instructions are incorporated into the actual processor design. Processor 2510 may essentially be a completely self-contained computing system, containing multiple cores or processors, a bus, memory controller, cache, etc. A multi-core processor may be symmetric or asymmetric.
To enable user interaction, computing system 2500 includes an input device 2545, which can represent any number of input mechanisms, such as a microphone for speech, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or graphical input, keyboard, mouse, motion input, speech, etc. Computing system 2500 can also include output device 2535, which can be one or more of a number of output mechanisms. In some instances, multimodal systems can enable a user to provide multiple types of input/output to communicate with computing system 2500. Computing system 2500 can include communications interface 2540, which can generally govern and manage the user input and system output. The communication interface may perform or facilitate receipt and/or transmission wired or wireless communications using wired and/or wireless transceivers, including those making use of an audio jack/plug, a microphone jack/plug, a universal serial bus (USB) port/plug, an Apple® Lightning® port/plug, an Ethernet port/plug, a fiber optic port/plug, a proprietary wired port/plug, a BLUETOOTH® wireless signal transfer, a BLUETOOTH® low energy (BLE) wireless signal transfer, an IBEACON® wireless signal transfer, a radio-frequency identification (RFID) wireless signal transfer, near-field communications (NFC) wireless signal transfer, dedicated short range communication (DSRC) wireless signal transfer, 802.11 Wi-Fi wireless signal transfer, wireless local area network (WLAN) signal transfer, Visible Light Communication (VLC), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Infrared (IR) communication wireless signal transfer, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) signal transfer, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) signal transfer, 3G/4G/5G/LTE cellular data network wireless signal transfer, ad-hoc network signal transfer, radio wave signal transfer, microwave signal transfer, infrared signal transfer, visible light signal transfer, ultraviolet light signal transfer, wireless signal transfer along the electromagnetic spectrum, or some combination thereof. The communications interface 2540 may also include one or more Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers or transceivers that are used to determine a location of the computing system 2500 based on receipt of one or more signals from one or more satellites associated with one or more GNSS systems. GNSS systems include, but are not limited to, the US-based Global Positioning System (GPS), the Russia-based Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), the China-based BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), and the Europe-based Galileo GNSS. There is no restriction on operating on any particular hardware arrangement, and therefore the basic features here may easily be substituted for improved hardware or firmware arrangements as they are developed.
Storage device 2530 can be a non-volatile and/or non-transitory and/or computer-readable memory device and can be a hard disk or other types of computer readable media which can store data that are accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, solid state memory devices, digital versatile disks, cartridges, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, a hard disk, magnetic tape, a magnetic strip/stripe, any other magnetic storage medium, flash memory, memristor memory, any other solid-state memory, a compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM) optical disc, a rewritable compact disc (CD) optical disc, digital video disk (DVD) optical disc, a blu-ray disc (BDD) optical disc, a holographic optical disk, another optical medium, a secure digital (SD) card, a micro secure digital (microSD) card, a Memory Stick® card, a smartcard chip, a EMV chip, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a mini/micro/nano/pico SIM card, another integrated circuit (IC) chip/card, random access memory (RAM), static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash EPROM (FLASHEPROM), cache memory (L1/L2/L3/L4/L5/L#), resistive random-access memory (RRAM/ReRAM), phase change memory (PCM), spin transfer torque RAM (STT-RAM), another memory chip or cartridge, and/or a combination thereof.
The storage device 2530 can include software services, servers, services, etc., that when the code that defines such software is executed by the processor 2510, it causes the system to perform a function. In some embodiments, a hardware service that performs a particular function can include the software component stored in a computer-readable medium in connection with the necessary hardware components, such as processor 2510, connection 2505, output device 2535, etc., to carry out the function.
As used herein, the term “computer-readable medium” includes, but is not limited to, portable or non-portable storage devices, optical storage devices, and various other mediums capable of storing, containing, or carrying instruction(s) and/or data. A computer-readable medium may include a non-transitory medium in which data can be stored and that does not include carrier waves and/or transitory electronic signals propagating wirelessly or over wired connections. Examples of a non-transitory medium may include, but are not limited to, a magnetic disk or tape, optical storage media such as compact disk (CD) or digital versatile disk (DVD), flash memory, memory or memory devices. A computer-readable medium may have stored thereon code and/or machine-executable instructions that may represent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a software package, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted using any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, or the like.
In some embodiments the computer-readable storage devices, mediums, and memories can include a cable or wireless signal containing a bit stream and the like. However, when mentioned, non-transitory computer-readable storage media expressly exclude media such as energy, carrier signals, electromagnetic waves, and signals per se.
Specific details are provided in the description above to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments and examples provided herein. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For clarity of explanation, in some instances the present technology may be presented as including individual functional blocks including functional blocks comprising devices, device components, steps or routines in a method embodied in software, or combinations of hardware and software. Additional components may be used other than those shown in the figures and/or described herein. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.
Individual embodiments may be described above as a process or method which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel, concurrently, or contemporaneously. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed, but could have additional steps not included in a figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination can correspond to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function.
Processes and methods according to the above-described examples can be implemented using computer-executable instructions that are stored or otherwise available from computer-readable media. Such instructions can include, for example, instructions and data which cause or otherwise configure a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or a processing device to perform a certain function or group of functions. Portions of computer resources used can be accessible over a network. The computer executable instructions may be, for example, binaries, intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, source code, etc. Examples of computer-readable media that may be used to store instructions, information used, and/or information created during methods according to described examples include magnetic or optical disks, flash memory, USB devices provided with non-volatile memory, networked storage devices, and so on.
Devices implementing processes and methods according to these disclosures can include hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof, and can take any of a variety of form factors. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks (e.g., a computer-program product) may be stored in a computer-readable or machine-readable medium. A processor(s) may perform the necessary tasks. Typical examples of form factors include laptops, smart phones, mobile phones, tablet devices or other small form factor personal computers, personal digital assistants, rackmount devices, standalone devices, and so on. Functionality described herein also can be embodied in peripherals or add-in cards. Such functionality can also be implemented on a circuit board among different chips or different processes executing in a single device, by way of further example.
The instructions, media for conveying such instructions, computing resources for executing them, and other structures for supporting such computing resources are example means for providing the functions described in the disclosure.
In the foregoing description, aspects of the application are described with reference to specific embodiments thereof, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the application is not limited thereto. Thus, while illustrative embodiments of the application have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed, and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations, except as limited by the prior art. Various features and aspects of the above-described application may be used individually or jointly. Further, embodiments can be utilized in any number of environments and applications beyond those described herein without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the specification. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. For the purposes of illustration, methods were described in a particular order. It should be appreciated that in alternate embodiments, the methods may be performed in a different order than that described.
One of ordinary skill will appreciate that the less than (“<”) and greater than (“>”) symbols or terminology used herein can be replaced with less than or equal to (“≤”) and greater than or equal to (“≥”) symbols, respectively, without departing from the scope of this description.
Where components are described as being “configured to” perform certain operations, such configuration can be accomplished, for example, by designing electronic circuits or other hardware to perform the operation, by programming programmable electronic circuits (e.g., microprocessors, or other suitable electronic circuits) to perform the operation, or any combination thereof.
The phrase “coupled to” refers to any component that is physically connected to another component either directly or indirectly, and/or any component that is in communication with another component (e.g., connected to the other component over a wired or wireless connection, and/or other suitable communication interface) either directly or indirectly.
Claim language or other language reciting “at least one of” a set and/or “one or more” of a set indicates that one member of the set or multiple members of the set (in any combination) satisfy the claim. For example, claim language reciting “at least one of A and B” means A, B, or A and B. In another example, claim language reciting “at least one of A, B, and C” means A, B, C, or A and B, or A and C, or B and C, or A and B and C. The language “at least one of” a set and/or “one or more” of a set does not limit the set to the items listed in the set. For example, claim language reciting “at least one of A and B” can mean A, B, or A and B, and can additionally include items not listed in the set of A and B.
The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, firmware, or combinations thereof. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.
The techniques described herein may also be implemented in electronic hardware, computer software, firmware, or any combination thereof. Such techniques may be implemented in any of a variety of devices such as general purposes computers, wireless communication device handsets, or integrated circuit devices having multiple uses including application in wireless communication device handsets and other devices. Any features described as modules or components may be implemented together in an integrated logic device or separately as discrete but interoperable logic devices. If implemented in software, the techniques may be realized at least in part by a computer-readable data storage medium comprising program code including instructions that, when executed, performs one or more of the methods described above. The computer-readable data storage medium may form part of a computer program product, which may include packaging materials. The computer-readable medium may comprise memory or data storage media, such as random access memory (RAM) such as synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), read-only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), FLASH memory, magnetic or optical data storage media, and the like. The techniques additionally, or alternatively, may be realized at least in part by a computer-readable communication medium that carries or communicates program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed, read, and/or executed by a computer, such as propagated signals or waves.
The program code may be executed by a processor, which may include one or more processors, such as one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), general purpose microprocessors, an application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable logic arrays (FPGAs), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuitry. Such a processor may be configured to perform any of the techniques described in this disclosure. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor; but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Accordingly, the term “processor,” as used herein may refer to any of the foregoing structure, any combination of the foregoing structure, or any other structure or apparatus suitable for implementation of the techniques described herein. In addition, in some aspects, the functionality described herein may be provided within dedicated software modules or hardware modules configured for encoding and decoding, or incorporated in a combined video encoder-decoder (CODEC).
As noted above, while the present disclosure shows illustrative aspects, it should be noted that various changes and modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope of the appended claims. Additionally, the functions, steps or actions of the method claims in accordance with aspects described herein need not be performed in any particular order unless expressly stated otherwise. Furthermore, although elements may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. Accordingly, the disclosure is not limited to the illustrated examples and any means for performing the functionality described herein are included in aspects of the disclosure.
Illustrative aspects of the disclosure include:
Aspect 1A. An apparatus for digital imaging, the apparatus comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor configured to: receive a first image of a scene captured by a first image sensor, wherein a light redirection element is configured to redirect a first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward the first image sensor, wherein the first image sensor is configured to capture the first image based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor; receive a second image of the scene captured by a second image sensor, wherein the light redirection element is configured to redirect a second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward the second image sensor, wherein the second image sensor is configured to capture the second image based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor, wherein the light redirection element includes a first prism coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and generate a combined image from the first image and the second image, wherein the combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image.
Aspect 2A. The apparatus of Aspect 1A, wherein a virtual extension of the first path beyond the light redirection element intersects with a virtual extension of the second path beyond the light redirection element.
Aspect 3A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 2A, wherein the one or more coatings include an epoxy.
Aspect 4A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 3A, wherein a refractive index of the one or more coatings, a refractive index of the first prism, and a refractive index of the second prism differ from one another by less than a threshold amount.
Aspect 5A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 4A, wherein the one or more coatings include a colorant that is configured to be non-transmissive of at least a subset of light that reaches the coupling interface.
Aspect 6A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 5A, wherein the colorant includes a plurality of carbon nanotubes.
Aspect 7A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 6A, wherein the one or more coatings include a colorant that is configured to be non-reflective of at least a subset of light that reaches the coupling interface.
Aspect 8A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 7A, wherein the one or more coatings include a colorant that is configured to be absorbent of at least a subset of light that reaches the coupling interface.
Aspect 9A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 8A, wherein the one or more coatings include a black colorant.
Aspect 10A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 9A, wherein the one or more coatings include a colorant with a luminosity below a maximum luminosity threshold.
Aspect 11A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 10A, wherein the first prism includes a first set of at least three sides and the second prism includes a second set of at least three sides.
Aspect 12A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 11A, wherein the first prism includes a first prism coupling side that is perpendicular to a second side of the first prism, wherein the second prism includes a second prism coupling side that is perpendicular to a second side of the second prism, wherein the coupling interface couples the first prism coupling side of the first prism to the second prism coupling side of the second prism.
Aspect 13A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 12A, wherein a shape of the first prism is based on a first triangular prism with a first cut along a first edge between two sides of the first triangular prism to form a first prism coupling side, wherein a shape of the second prism is based on a second triangular prism with a second cut along a second edge between two sides of the second triangular prism to form a second prism coupling side, wherein the coupling interface couples the first prism coupling side of the first prism to the second prism coupling side of the second prism.
Aspect 14A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 13A, wherein the first prism coupling side is smoothed after the first cut using at least one of grinding or polishing, wherein the second prism coupling side is smoothed after the second cut using at least one of grinding or polishing.
Aspect 15A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 14A, wherein the first prism coupling side is at least partially coated using the one or more coatings.
Aspect 16A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 15A, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: modify at least one of the first image or the second image using a perspective distortion correction before generating the combined image from the first image and the second image.
Aspect 17A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 16A, wherein, to modify at least one of the first image or the second image using the perspective distortion correction, the at least one processor is configured to: modify the first image from depicting a first perspective to depicting a third perspective using the perspective distortion correction; and modify the second image from depicting a second perspective to depicting the third perspective using the perspective distortion correction, wherein the third perspective is between the first perspective and the second perspective.
Aspect 18A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 17A, wherein, to modify at least one of the first image or the second image using the perspective distortion correction, the at least one processor is configured to: identify depictions of one or more objects in image data of at least one of the first image or the second image; and modify the image data at least in part by projecting the image data based on the depictions of the one or more objects.
Aspect 19A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 18A, wherein, to generate the combined image from the first image and the second image, the at least one processor is configured to: align a first portion of the first image with a second portion of the second image; and stitch the first image and the second image together based on the first portion of the first image and the second portion of the second image being aligned.
Aspect 20A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 19A, further comprising: the first image sensor; the second image sensor; and the light redirection element.
Aspect 21A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 20A, wherein: the light redirection element includes a first reflective surface, wherein, to redirect the first light toward the first image sensor, the light redirection element uses the first reflective surface to reflect the first light toward the first image sensor; and the light redirection element includes a second reflective surface, wherein, to redirect the second light toward the second image sensor, the light redirection element uses the second reflective surface to reflect the second light toward the second image sensor.
Aspect 22A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 21A, wherein the first prism is configured to refract the first light, and the second prism is configured to refract the second light.
Aspect 23A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 22A, wherein the first path includes a path of the first light before the first light enters the first prism, wherein the second path includes a path of the second light before the second light enters the second prism.
Aspect 24A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 23A, wherein the first prism includes a first reflective surface configured to reflect the first light, wherein the second prism includes a second reflective surface configured to reflect the second light.
Aspect 25A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 24A, wherein the first path includes a path of the first light after the first light enters the first prism but before the first reflective surface reflects the first light, wherein the second path includes a path of the second light after the second light enters the second prism but before the second reflective surface reflects the second light.
Aspect 26A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 25A, wherein the first image and the second image are captured contemporaneously.
Aspect 27A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 26A, wherein the light redirection element is fixed relative to the first image sensor and the second image sensor.
Aspect 28A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1A to 27A, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: modify at least one of the first image and the second image using a brightness uniformity correction.
Aspect 29A. A method for digital imaging, the method comprising: receiving a first image of a scene captured by a first image sensor, wherein a light redirection element redirects a first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward the first image sensor, wherein the first image sensor captures the first image based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor; receiving a second image of the scene captured by a second image sensor, wherein a light redirection element redirects a second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward the second image sensor, wherein the second image sensor captures the second image based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor, wherein the light redirection element includes a first prism coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and generating a combined image from the first image and the second image, wherein the combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image.
Aspect 30A. The method of Aspect 29A, wherein a virtual extension of the first path beyond the light redirection element intersects with a virtual extension of the second path beyond the light redirection element.
Aspect 31A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 30A, wherein the one or more coatings include an epoxy.
Aspect 32A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 31A, wherein a refractive index of the one or more coatings, a refractive index of the first prism, and a refractive index of the second prism differ from one another by less than a threshold amount.
Aspect 33A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 32A, wherein the one or more coatings include a colorant that is configured to be non-transmissive of at least a subset of light that reaches the coupling interface.
Aspect 34A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 33A, wherein the colorant includes a plurality of carbon nanotubes.
Aspect 35A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 34A, wherein the one or more coatings include a colorant that is configured to be non-reflective of at least a subset of light that reaches the coupling interface.
Aspect 36A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 35A, wherein the one or more coatings include a colorant that is configured to be absorbent of at least a subset of light that reaches the coupling interface.
Aspect 37A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 36A, wherein the one or more coatings include a black colorant.
Aspect 38A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 37A, wherein the one or more coatings include a colorant with a luminosity below a maximum luminosity threshold.
Aspect 39A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 38A, wherein the first prism includes a first set of at least three sides and the second prism includes a second set of at least three sides.
Aspect 40A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 39A, wherein the first prism includes a first prism coupling side that is perpendicular to a second side of the first prism, wherein the second prism includes a second prism coupling side that is perpendicular to a second side of the second prism, wherein the coupling interface couples the first prism coupling side of the first prism to the second prism coupling side of the second prism.
Aspect 41A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 40A, wherein a shape of the first prism is based on a first triangular prism with a first cut along a first edge between two sides of the first triangular prism to form a first prism coupling side, wherein a shape of the second prism is based on a second triangular prism with a second cut along a second edge between two sides of the second triangular prism to form a second prism coupling side, wherein the coupling interface couples the first prism coupling side of the first prism to the second prism coupling side of the second prism.
Aspect 42A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 41A, wherein the first prism coupling side is smoothed after the first cut using at least one of grinding or polishing, wherein the second prism coupling side is smoothed after the second cut using at least one of grinding or polishing.
Aspect 43A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 42A, wherein the first prism coupling side is at least partially coated using the one or more coatings.
Aspect 44A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 43A, further comprising: modifying at least one of the first image or the second image using a perspective distortion correction before generating the combined image from the first image and the second image.
Aspect 45A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 44A, wherein modifying at least one of the first image or the second image using the perspective distortion correction includes: modifying the first image from depicting a first perspective to depicting a third perspective using the perspective distortion correction, and modifying the second image from depicting a second perspective to depicting the third perspective using the perspective distortion correction, wherein the third perspective is between the first perspective and the second perspective.
Aspect 46A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 45A, wherein modifying at least one of the first image or the second image using the perspective distortion correction includes: identifying depictions of one or more objects in image data of at least one of the first image or the second image, and modifying the image data at least in part by projecting the image data based on the depictions of the one or more objects.
Aspect 47A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 46A, wherein generating the combined image from the first image and the second image includes: aligning a first portion of the first image with a second portion of the second image, and stitching the first image and the second image together based on the first portion of the first image and the second portion of the second image being aligned.
Aspect 48A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 47A, wherein the method is performed using an apparatus that includes the first image sensor, the second image sensor, and the light redirection element.
Aspect 49A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 48A, wherein: the light redirection element includes a first reflective surface, wherein, to redirect the first light toward the first image sensor, the light redirection element uses the first reflective surface to reflect the first light toward the first image sensor; and the light redirection element includes a second reflective surface, wherein, to redirect the second light toward the second image sensor, the light redirection element uses the second reflective surface to reflect the second light toward the second image sensor.
Aspect 50A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 49A, wherein the first prism is configured to refract the first light, and the second prism is configured to refract the second light.
Aspect 51A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 50A, wherein the first path includes a path of the first light before the first light enters the first prism, wherein the second path includes a path of the second light before the second light enters the second prism.
Aspect 52A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 51A, wherein the first prism includes a first reflective surface configured to reflect the first light, wherein the second prism includes a second reflective surface configured to reflect the second light.
Aspect 53A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 52A, wherein the first path includes a path of the first light after the first light enters the first prism but before the first reflective surface reflects the first light, wherein the second path includes a path of the second light after the second light enters the second prism but before the second reflective surface reflects the second light.
Aspect 54A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 53A, wherein the first image and the second image are captured contemporaneously.
Aspect 55A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 54A, wherein the light redirection element is fixed relative to the first image sensor and the second image sensor.
Aspect 56A. The method of any of Aspects 29A to 55A, further comprising: modifying at least one of the first image and the second image using a brightness uniformity correction.
Aspect 57A. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: receive a first image of a scene captured by a first image sensor, wherein a light redirection element is configured to redirect a first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward the first image sensor, wherein the first image sensor is configured to capture the first image based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor; receive a second image of the scene captured by a second image sensor, wherein the light redirection element is configured to redirect a second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward the second image sensor, wherein the second image sensor is configured to capture the second image based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor, wherein the light redirection element includes a first prism coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and generate a combined image from the first image and the second image, wherein the combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image.
Aspect 58A. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Aspect 57A, further comprising operations according to any of Aspects 2A to 28A, and/or any of Aspects 30A to 56A.
Aspect 59A. An apparatus for digital imaging, the apparatus comprising: means for receiving a first image of a scene captured by a first image sensor, wherein a light redirection element redirects a first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward the first image sensor, wherein the first image sensor captures the first image based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor; means for receiving a second image of the scene captured by a second image sensor, wherein a light redirection element redirects a second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward the second image sensor, wherein the second image sensor captures the second image based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor, wherein the light redirection element includes a first prism coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; means for and generating a combined image from the first image and the second image, wherein the combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image.
Aspect 60A. The apparatus of Aspect 59A, further comprising means for performing operations according to any of Aspects 2A to 28A, and/or any of Aspects 30A to 56A.
Aspect 61A. An apparatus for digital imaging, the apparatus comprising: a first prism that receives a first light from a scene and redirects the first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward a first image sensor; a second prism that receives a second light from a scene and redirects the second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward a second image sensor, wherein the first prism is coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface; and one or more coatings along the coupling interface.
Aspect 62A. The apparatus of Aspect 61A, wherein the first image sensor is configured to capture a first image of the scene based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor, wherein the second image sensor is configured to capture a second image of the scene based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor.
Aspect 63A. The apparatus of Aspect 62A, further comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor configured to: receive the first image of the scene from the first image sensor; receive the second image of the scene captured from the second image sensor; and generate a combined image from the first image and the second image, wherein the combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image.
Aspect 64A. The apparatus of Aspect 63A wherein the at least one processor is configured to: modify at least one of the first image and the second image using a perspective distortion correction, wherein the at least one processor is configured to generate the combined image from the first image and the second image in response to modifying at least the one of the first image and the second image using the perspective distortion correction.
Aspect 65A. The apparatus of any of Aspects 61A to 64A, further comprising means for performing operations according to any of Aspects 2A to 28A, and/or any of Aspects 30A to 56A.
Aspect 66A. A method for digital imaging, the method comprising: receiving, at a first prism, first light from a scene; redirecting, using the first prism, the first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward a first image sensor; receiving, at a second prism, second light from a scene, wherein the first prism is coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and redirecting, using the second prism, the second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward a second image sensor.
Aspect 67A. The method of Aspect 66A, wherein the first image sensor is configured to capture a first image of the scene based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor, wherein the second image sensor is configured to capture a second image of the scene based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor.
Aspect 68A. The method of Aspect 67A, further comprising: receiving the first image of the scene from the first image sensor; receiving the second image of the scene captured from the second image sensor; and generating a combined image from the first image and the second image, wherein the combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image.
Aspect 69A. The method of Aspect 68A, further comprising: modifying at least one of the first image and the second image using a perspective distortion correction, wherein generating the combined image from the first image and the second image is performed in response to modifying at least the one of the first image and the second image using the perspective distortion correction.
Aspect 70A. The method of any of Aspects 66A to 69A, further comprising operations according to any of Aspects 2A to 28A, and/or any of Aspects 30A to 56A.
Aspect 71A. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: receive, at a first prism, first light from a scene; redirect, using the first prism, the first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward a first image sensor; receive, at a second prism, second light from a scene, wherein the first prism is coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and redirect, using the second prism, the second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward a second image sensor.
Aspect 72A. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Aspect 71A, further comprising operations according to any of Aspects 2A to 28A, any of Aspects 30A to 56A, any of Aspects 62A to 65A, and/or any of Aspects 67A to 70A.
Aspect 73A. An apparatus for digital imaging, the apparatus comprising: means for receiving, at a first prism, first light from a scene; means for redirecting, using the first prism, the first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward a first image sensor; means for receiving, at a second prism, second light from a scene, wherein the first prism is coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and means for redirecting, using the second prism, the second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward a second image sensor.
Aspect 74A. The apparatus of Aspect 73A, further comprising means for performing operations according to any of Aspects 2A to 28A, and/or any of Aspects 30A to 56A.
Aspect 1B. An apparatus for digital imaging, the apparatus comprising: a memory; and one or more processors configured to: receive a first image of a scene captured by a first image sensor, wherein a light redirection element is configured to redirect a first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward the first image sensor, wherein the first image sensor is configured to capture the first image based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor; receive a second image of the scene captured by a second image sensor, wherein the light redirection element is configured to redirect a second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward the second image sensor, wherein the second image sensor is configured to capture the second image based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor, wherein the light redirection element includes a first prism coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and generate a combined image from the first image and the second image, wherein the combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image.
Aspect 2B. The apparatus of Aspect 1B, wherein a virtual extension of the first path beyond the light redirection element intersects with a virtual extension of the second path beyond the light redirection element.
Aspect 3B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 2B, wherein the one or more coatings include an epoxy.
Aspect 4B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 3B, wherein a refractive index of the epoxy and a refractive index of the first prism differ by less than a threshold amount.
Aspect 5B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 4B, wherein a refractive index of the epoxy and a refractive index of the second prism differ by less than a threshold amount.
Aspect 6B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 5B, wherein a refractive index of the epoxy exceeds a threshold refractive index.
Aspect 7B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 6B, wherein the one or more coatings include a colorant.
Aspect 8B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 7B, wherein the colorant reflects less than a threshold amount of light that falls on the colorant.
Aspect 9B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 8B, wherein the colorant absorbs at least a threshold amount of light that falls on the colorant.
Aspect 10B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 9B, wherein the colorant is black.
Aspect 11B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 10B, wherein the colorant includes a plurality of carbon nanotubes.
Aspect 12B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 11B, wherein the first prism includes a first set of three sides and the second prism includes a second set of three sides.
Aspect 13B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 12B, wherein the first prism includes a first edge based on a first cut to the first prism, wherein the second prism includes a second edge based on a second cut to the second prism, wherein the coupling interface couples the first edge of the first prism to the second edge of the second prism.
Aspect 14B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 13B, wherein the first edge is smoothed through at least one of grinding and polishing, wherein the second edge is smoothed through at least one of grinding and polishing.
Aspect 15B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 14B, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: modify at least one of the first image and the second image using a perspective distortion correction, wherein the one or more processors are configured to generate the combined image from the first image and the second image in response to modifying at least the one of the first image and the second image using the perspective distortion correction.
Aspect 16B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 15B, wherein, to modify at least one of the first image and the second image using the perspective distortion correction, the one or more processors are configured to: modify the first image from depicting a first perspective to depicting a common perspective using the perspective distortion correction; and modify the second image from depicting a second perspective to depicting the common perspective using the perspective distortion correction, wherein the common perspective is between the first perspective and the second perspective.
Aspect 17B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 16B, wherein, to modify at least one of the first image and the second image using the perspective distortion correction, the one or more processors are configured to: identify depictions of one or more objects in image data of at least one of the first image and the second image; and modify the image data at least in part by projecting the image data based on the depictions of the one or more objects.
Aspect 18B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 17B, wherein, to generate the combined image from the first image and the second image, the one or more processors are configured to: align a first portion of the first image with a second portion of the second image; and stitch the first image and the second image together based on the first portion of the first image and the second portion of the second image being aligned.
Aspect 19B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 18B, further comprising: the first image sensor; the second image sensor; and the light redirection element.
Aspect 20B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 19B, wherein: the light redirection element includes a first reflective surface, wherein, to redirect the first light toward the first image sensor, the light redirection element uses the first reflective surface to reflect the first light toward the first image sensor; and the light redirection element includes a second reflective surface, wherein, to redirect the second light toward the second image sensor, the light redirection element uses the second reflective surface to reflect the second light toward the second image sensor.
Aspect 21B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 20B, wherein the first prism is configured to refract the first light, and the second prism is configured to refract the second light.
Aspect 22B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 21B, wherein the first path includes a path of the first light before the first light enters the first prism, wherein the second path includes a path of the second light before the second light enters the second prism.
Aspect 23B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 22B, wherein the first prism includes a first reflective surface configured to reflect the first light, wherein the second prism includes a second reflective surface configured to reflect the second light.
Aspect 24B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 23B, wherein the first path includes a path of the first light after the first light enters the first prism but before the first reflective surface reflects the first light, wherein the second path includes a path of the second light after the second light enters the second prism but before the second reflective surface reflects the second light.
Aspect 25B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 24B, wherein the first image and the second image are captured contemporaneously.
Aspect 26B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 25B, wherein the light redirection element is fixed relative to the first image sensor and the second image sensor.
Aspect 27B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 26B, wherein a first planar surface of the first image sensor faces a first direction, wherein a second planar surface of the second image sensor faces a second direction that is parallel to the first direction.
Aspect 28B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 27B, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: modify at least one of the first image and the second image using a brightness uniformity correction.
Aspect 29B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 28B, further comprising: the first image sensor that captures the first image.
Aspect 30B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 29B, further comprising: the second image sensor that captures the second image.
Aspect 31B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 30B, further comprising: the first prism of the light redirection element.
Aspect 32B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 31B, further comprising: the second prism of the light redirection element.
Aspect 33B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 1B to 32B, further comprising: the light redirection element.
Aspect 34B. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform operations according to any of Aspects 1B to 33B.
Aspect 35B. A method for digital imaging, the method comprising: receiving a first image of a scene captured by a first image sensor, wherein a light redirection element redirects a first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward the first image sensor, wherein the first image sensor captures the first image based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor; receiving a second image of the scene captured by a second image sensor, wherein a light redirection element redirects a second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward the second image sensor, wherein the second image sensor captures the second image based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor, wherein the light redirection element includes a first prism coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and generating a combined image from the first image and the second image, wherein the combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image.
Aspect 36B. The method of Aspect 35B, further comprising: one or more operations according to any one of Aspects 2B to 33B.
Aspect 37B. An apparatus for digital imaging, the apparatus comprising: means for receiving a first image of a scene captured by a first image sensor, wherein a light redirection element redirects a first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward the first image sensor, wherein the first image sensor captures the first image based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor; means for receiving a second image of the scene captured by a second image sensor, wherein a light redirection element redirects a second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward the second image sensor, wherein the second image sensor captures the second image based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor, wherein the light redirection element includes a first prism coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface, with one or more coatings along the coupling interface; and means for generating a combined image from the first image and the second image, wherein the combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image.
Aspect 38B. The apparatus of Aspect 37B, further comprising: any one of Aspects 2B to 33B.
Aspect 39B. An apparatus for digital imaging, the apparatus comprising: a first prism that receives a first light from a scene and redirects the first light from a first path to a redirected first path toward a first image sensor; a second prism that receives a second light from a scene and redirects the second light from a second path to a redirected second path toward a second image sensor, wherein the first prism is coupled to a second prism along a coupling interface; and one or more coatings along the coupling interface.
Aspect 40B. The apparatus of Aspect 39B, wherein the first image sensor is configured to capture a first image of the scene based on receipt of the first light at the first image sensor, wherein the second image sensor is configured to capture a second image of the scene based on receipt of the second light at the second image sensor.
Aspect 41B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 40B, wherein the first image and the second image are captured contemporaneously.
Aspect 42B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 41B, wherein a virtual extension of the first path beyond the first prism intersects with a virtual extension of the second path beyond the second prism.
Aspect 43B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 42B, wherein the one or more coatings include an epoxy.
Aspect 44B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 43B, wherein a refractive index of the epoxy and a refractive index of the first prism differ by less than a threshold amount.
Aspect 45B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 44B, wherein a refractive index of the epoxy and a refractive index of the second prism differ by less than a threshold amount.
Aspect 46B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 45B, wherein a refractive index of the epoxy exceeds a threshold refractive index.
Aspect 47B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 46B, wherein the one or more coatings include a colorant.
Aspect 48B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 47B, wherein the colorant reflects less than a threshold amount of light that falls on the colorant.
Aspect 49B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 48B, wherein the colorant absorbs at least a threshold amount of light that falls on the colorant.
Aspect 50B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 49B, wherein the colorant is black.
Aspect 51B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 50B, wherein the colorant includes a plurality of carbon nanotubes.
Aspect 52B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 51B, wherein the first prism includes a first set of three sides and the second prism includes a second set of three sides.
Aspect 53B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 52B, wherein the first prism includes a first edge based on a first cut to the first prism, wherein the second prism includes a second edge based on a second cut to the second prism, wherein the coupling interface couples the first edge of the first prism to the second edge of the second prism.
Aspect 54B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 53B, wherein the first edge is smoothed through at least one of grinding and polishing, wherein the second edge is smoothed through at least one of grinding and polishing.
Aspect 55B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 54B, wherein: the first prism includes a first reflective surface, wherein, to redirect the first light toward the first image sensor, the first prism uses the first reflective surface to reflect the first light toward the first image sensor; and the second includes a second reflective surface, wherein, to redirect the second light toward the second image sensor, the second prism uses the second reflective surface to reflect the second light toward the second image sensor.
Aspect 56B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 55B, wherein the first prism is configured to refract the first light, and the second prism is configured to refract the second light.
Aspect 57B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 56B, wherein the first path includes a path of the first light before the first light enters the first prism, wherein the second path includes a path of the second light before the second light enters the second prism.
Aspect 58B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 57B, wherein the first prism includes a first reflective surface configured to reflect the first light, wherein the second prism includes a second reflective surface configured to reflect the second light.
Aspect 59B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 58B, wherein the first path includes a path of the first light after the first light enters the first prism but before the first reflective surface reflects the first light, wherein the second path includes a path of the second light after the second light enters the second prism but before the second reflective surface reflects the second light.
Aspect 60B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 59B, wherein a light redirection element includes the first prism coupled to the second prism along the coupling interface, wherein the light redirection element is fixed relative to the first image sensor and the second image sensor.
Aspect 61B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 39B to 60B, wherein a first planar surface of the first image sensor faces a first direction, wherein a second planar surface of the second image sensor faces a second direction that is parallel to the first direction.
Aspect 62B. The apparatus of claim 40, further comprising: a memory; and one or more processors configured to: receive the first image of the scene from the first image sensor; receive the second image of the scene captured from the second image sensor; and generate a combined image from the first image and the second image, wherein the combined image includes a combined image field of view that is larger than at least one of a first field of view of the first image and a second field of view of the second image.
Aspect 63B. The apparatus of Aspect 62, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: modify at least one of the first image and the second image using a perspective distortion correction, wherein the one or more processors are configured to generate the combined image from the first image and the second image in response to modifying at least the one of the first image and the second image using the perspective distortion correction.
Aspect 64B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 62B to 63B, wherein, to modify at least one of the first image and the second image using the perspective distortion correction, the one or more processors are configured to: modify the first image from depicting a first perspective to depicting a common perspective using the perspective distortion correction; and modify the second image from depicting a second perspective to depicting the common perspective using the perspective distortion correction, wherein the common perspective is between the first perspective and the second perspective.
Aspect 65B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 62B to 64B, wherein, to modify at least one of the first image and the second image using the perspective distortion correction, the one or more processors are configured to: identify depictions of one or more objects in image data of at least one of the first image and the second image; and modify the image data at least in part by projecting the image data based on the depictions of the one or more objects.
Aspect 66B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 62B to 65B, wherein, to generate the combined image from the first image and the second image, the one or more processors are configured to: align a first portion of the first image with a second portion of the second image; and stitch the first image and the second image together based on the first portion of the first image and the second portion of the second image being aligned.
Aspect 67B. The apparatus of any of Aspects 62B to 66B, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: modify at least one of the first image and the second image using a brightness uniformity correction.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/222,899, filed Jul. 16, 2021, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, in its entirety and for all purposes.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63222899 | Jul 2021 | US |
