STREO PANORAMIC CAMERA ARRANGEMENTS FOR RECORDING PANORAMIC IMAGES USEFUL IN A STEREO PANORAMIC IMAGE PAIR

摘要

Various camera arrangements are disclosed comprising a camera (113) and an optical element (112). The camera is configured to record an image defined by light rays directed thereto. The optical element is configured to deflect rays from a scene to the camera for recording thereby. The optical element is further configured to deflect the rays such that, if the rays were no deflected, the rays would instead be tangent to a viewing device of predetermined shape, such as a circle. Optical elements may be in the form of curved mirrors (41) or lenses (91). The camera arrangements are configured to record left or right panoramic images of a stereo panoramic image pair. Several stereo panoramic camera arrangements are described for contemporaneously recording left or right panoramic images of a stereo panoramic image pair.