Panoramic vision

Panoramic vision is a part of computer vision that focuses on the creation and analysis of images with very wide fields of view. Its appeal lies in enhancing the range of visualization beyond that provided by a single snapshot from a conventional off-the-shelf camera. As a result, it has broad implications for commercial and web-based multimedia applications such as games, virtual reality, surveillance, and teleconferencing.
This book is an edited collection of articles written by researchers who have worked extensively in the area of panoramic vision. This is probably the first book that covers such a wide range of topics in this exciting and promising area. More specifically, it features representative work in the design of panoramic image capturing systems, the theory involved in the imaging process, software techniques for creating panoramic images, and applications that use panoramic images. It also includes a historical perspective on panoramic imaging. The intended audience is anyone who wishes to become familiar with panoramic vision and its latest research work. The contents of this book will allow the reader to understand the more technical aspects of panoramic vision, such as sensor design and imaging techniques. Researchers and instructors will especially find this book useful.

Contents

• Introduction
• A historical perspective on panorama
• Development of low-cost compact omnidirectional vision sensors
• Single viewpoint catadioptric cameras
• Epipolar Geometry of Central Panoramic Catadioptric Cameras
• Folded catadioptric cameras
• A Real-Time Panoramic Stereo Imaging System and its Applications
• Panoramic imaging with horizontal stereo
• Panoramic stereovision sensor
• Calibration of the stereovision panoramic sensor
• Matching linear stereoscopic images
• Characterization of Errors in Compositing Cylindrical Panoramic Images
• Construction of panoramic image mosaics with global and local alignment
• Self-calibration of zooming cameras from a single viewpoint
• 360 x 360 mosaics: Regular and stereoscopic
• Mosaicing with strips on adaptive manifolds
• 3-D Environment Modeling from Multiple Cylindrical Panoramic Images
• N-ocular stereo for real-time human tracking
• Identifying and localizing robots with omnidirectional vision sensors
• Video representation and manipulations using mosaics