Catadioptric single camera systems having radial epipolar geometry and methods and means thereof

摘要

Catadioptric single camera systems capable of sampling the lightfield of a scene from a locus of circular viewpoints and the methods thereof are described. The epipolar lines of the system are radial, and the systems have foveated vision characteristics. A first embodiment of the invention is directed to a camera capable of looking at a scene through a cylinder with a mirrored inside surface. A second embodiment uses a truncated cone with a mirrored inside surface. A third embodiment uses a first truncated cone with a mirrored outside surface and a second truncated cone with a mirrored inside surface. A fourth embodiment of the invention uses a planar mirror with a truncated cone with a mirrored inside surface. The present invention allows high quality depth information to be gathered by capturing stereo images having radial epipolar lines in a simple and efficient method.