Method and device for generating 3d images

Abstract

A method for generating three-dimensional images based on a sequence of two-dimensional images is characterized by the steps of: analyzing a two-dimensional image with respect to its scene type, selecting a deformation assigned to the defined scene type with which the two-dimensional image is deformed, deforming the two-dimensional image and transmitting the deformed two-dimensional image to at least one viewing channel. The method also contemplates applying various transition functions to the two-dimensional image to provide a continuous and smooth transition from one scene type to another. The method can be carried out by an apparatus for performing these functions.

1 - 21 . (canceled)  
   
   
       22 . A method for generating three-dimensional (3-D) images based on a sequence of two-dimensional (2-D) images, comprising the steps of: 
 deforming a two-dimensional image based on its scene type; and    transmitting the deformed two-dimensional image to at least one viewing channel;    wherein the deforming step includes defining a synthetic image such that a three-dimensional perception is created at a known viewing position relative to the two-dimensional image.    
   
   
       23 . A method according to  claim 22 , comprising the steps of: 
 analyzing the two-dimensional image to determine its scene type from a plurality of scene types;    assigning a deformation to each scene type.    
   
   
       24 . A method according to  claim 22 , wherein the deforming step includes displacing at least some of the pixels of the two-dimensional image from their original positions to define a synthetic image, defining a viewing position at a known distance from a two-dimensional image plane, and generating a deformed two-dimensional image on the two-dimensional image plane from the synthetic image.  
   
   
       25 . A method according to  claim 22 , comprising the step of defining multiple viewing positions and generating a deformed two-dimensional image for each viewing position.  
   
   
       26 . A method according to  claim 22 , wherein the deforming step includes defining at least first and second viewing positions horizontally spaced from each other and generating first and second deformed images based on angles of observation from respective viewing positions; and the transmitting step includes transmitting the first and second deformed images to respective first and second viewing channels.  
   
   
       27 . A method according to  claim 22 , further comprising defining a scene type as one of a close-up shot, a normal shot, and a wide angle shot.  
   
   
       28 . A method according to  claim 22 , wherein assigning includes assigning a spherical deformation to a close-up-shot scene type, and deforming includes distorting the pixels of the two-dimensional image concentrically from a point in the image.  
   
   
       29 . A method according to  claim 28 , wherein distorting includes forming the synthetic image with pixels z(i,j) from the two-dimensional image with pixels x(i,j) based on the following formula:  
         z ( i,j ):=(1−(4 /PpL   2 )(0.5 PpL−j ) 2 )*(1−(4 /tL   2 )*(0.5 tL−i ) 2 )*sphere  
     where tL is the number of lines and PpL is the number of pixels per line, and sphere is a constant which is less than the distance from the image plane to the viewing position.  
   
   
       30 . A method according to  claim 22 , wherein assigning includes assigning a sphere-tilt deformation to a normal-shot scene type, and displacing includes simultaneously distorting and expanding the pixels of the two-dimensional image from top to bottom and concentrically from a point in the image.  
   
   
       31 . A method according to  claim 22 , wherein assigning includes assigning a tilt deformation to a wide-angle-shot scene type, and displacing includes incrementally, continuously, and horizontally expanding the pixels of the two-dimensional image.  
   
   
       32 . A method according to  claim 22 , comprising interpolating a predetermined number of sequential images from at least one two-dimensional image sequence to produce at least a portion of the sequence of two-dimensional images.  
   
   
       33 . A method according to  claim 22 , wherein when the scene type of an image is different than that of a previous image, further comprising applying a transition function to the image to continuously adjust the assigned deformation from the deformation type assigned to the previous scene type to the deformation type assigned to the new scene type to prevent an unnatural appearance of the image.  
   
   
       34 . A method according to  claim 33 , wherein applying the transition function includes applying a predetermined number of transition deformations and the new image deformation, whereby the transition deformations are calculated by interpolation of the previous deformation and of the new deformation for every pixel.  
   
   
       35 . A system comprising a processor, a memory, an image output, and program instructions for carrying out the method of  claim 22.