Depth-assigned content for depth-enhanced pictures

摘要

According to various embodiments of the invention, a system and method are provided for enabling interaction with, manipulation of, and control of depth-assigned content in depth-enhanced pictures. Depth-assigned content can be assigned to a specified depth value. When a depth-enhanced picture is refocused at a focus depth substantially different from the specified assigned depth value, the depth-assigned content may be omitted, grayed out, blurred, or otherwise visually distinguished. In this manner, content associated with an in-focus image element can be visually distinguished from content associated with an out-of-focus image element. For example, in at least one embodiment, depth-assigned content is visible only when an image element associated with the content is in focus (or nearly in focus). According to various embodiments of the invention, many different types of interactions are facilitated among depth-assigned content, depth-enhanced pictures, and other content.

主权项

1. A method for manipulating depth-assigned content associated with a depth-enhanced picture, comprising:
at a processor, receiving a depth-enhanced picture comprising a plurality of elements having different depth values; at the processor, receiving a depth-assigned content item, the depth-assigned content item being associated with the depth-enhanced picture and being assigned to a first depth value; at the processor, determining a focus depth for rendering of the depth-enhanced picture, wherein at least a first one of the elements has a depth that is closer to the focus depth than the depth of at least a second one of the elements; at the processor, determining whether to include the depth-assigned content item in rendering the depth-enhanced picture based on a determination as to whether the first depth value falls within a predetermined tolerance value of the determined focus depth; at an image rendering component, rendering the depth-enhanced picture so that the first element is more in focus than the second element; at the image rendering component:
responsive to the determination indicating that the depth-assigned content item should be included, including the depth-assigned content item in the rendered depth-enhanced picture; andresponsive to the determination indicating that the depth-assigned content item should not be included, omitting the depth-assigned content item from the rendered depth-enhanced picture; and outputting the rendered depth-enhanced picture at an output device.