US6097394A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Method and system for light field rendering
Assignee: INTERFLO TECHNOLOGIES Inc
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Filing: 1997-04-28
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Granted: 2000-08-01
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Expires: 2017-04-28
Abstract
Abstract Described is a simple and robust method and system for generating new views from arbitrary camera positions without depth information or feature matching, simply by combining and resampling the available images. This technique interprets input images as two-dimensional slices of a four dimensional function-the light field. This function completely characterizes the flow of light through unobstructed space in a static scene with fixed illumination. A sampled representation for light fields allows for both efficient creation and display of inward and outward looking views. Light fields may be created from large arrays of both rendered and digitized image. The latter are acquired with a video camera mounted on a computer-controlled gantry. Once a light field has been created, new views may be constructed in real time by extracting slices in appropriate directions. Also described is a compression system that is able to compress generated light fields by more than a factor of 100:1 with very little loss of fidelity. Issues of antialiasing during creation and resampling during slice extraction are also addressed.
Inventors
- 👤 Marc Levoy
- 👤 Pat Hanrahan
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 18:09
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06T; G06T17/00; G02; G02B; G02B30/00; G02B30/50; H; H04; H04N; H04N13/00; H04N13/20; H04N13/204; H04N13/207; H04N13/232
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 30
Claim 1
Independent Claim
108 words
A method for creating a new image of a scene, comprising the steps of: acquiring light field radiance data by collecting an array of planar images of the scene as observed from a first planar (u,v) surface, said planar array of planar images having inter-element coherence; storing and compressing said acquired light field radiance data; computing line parameters for image rays originating from the scene which pass through said first planar (u,v) surface and which intercept a second planar (x,y) pixel surface using projective mapping; and calculating the radiance of said image rays intercepting said (x,y) pixel surface by using a subset of said acquired light-field radiance data.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
108 words
A method for creating a new image of a scene, comprising the steps of: acquiring light field radiance data by collecting an array of planar images of the scene as observed from a first planar (u,v) surface, said planar array of planar images having inter-element coherence; storing and compressing said acquired light field radiance data; computing line parameters for image rays originating from the scene which pass through said first planar (u,v) surface and which intercept a second planar (x,y) pixel surface using projective mapping; and calculating the radiance of said image rays intercepting said (x,y) pixel surface by using a subset of said acquired light-field radiance data.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of: selectively decompressing a subset of said acquired light-field radiance data to calculate the radiance of said image rays intercepting said second planar (x,y) pixel surface.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 2, wherein the step of selectively decompressing a subset of said acquired light-field radiance data utilizes a decoding stage wherein a file containing compressed data is loaded into memory and a second dequantization stage is executed for calculating the radiance of image rays.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the step of storing and compressing said light-field radiance data includes a two-stage pipeline compression scheme.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 4, wherein the two-stage compression scheme comprises a fixed rate vector quantization step and an entropy coding step.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 5, wherein the entropy coding step comprises Lempel-Ziv coding.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 1, wherein light-field radiance data is decompressed as required with the steps of: gzip decoding as a file is loaded into memory; and dequantization.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the step of calculating the radiance of said image rays includes reconstructing a four-dimensional plenoptic function for said image rays from the acquired light field data.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 8, wherein the four-dimensional plenoptic function is approximated by interpolating the four-dimensional function from the subset of images proximate to the intersection of said image rays with said (u,v) plane.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
119 words
A method for creating a new image of a scene at a new viewpoint comprising the steps of: acquiring light-field radiance data along at least one planar (u,v) surface by collecting an array of planar images directed towards the center of the scene, said array of planar images having inter-element coherence; storing and compressing said acquired light field radiance data; selecting a planar pixel element along a new viewpoint plane; computing line parameters for image rays originating from the scene which pass through said at least one planar (u,v) surface and which intercept said selected pixel element; and calculating the radiance for said image rays intersecting said pixel element by using a subset of said acquired light-field radiance data.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
119 words
A method for creating a new image of a scene at a new viewpoint comprising the steps of: acquiring light-field radiance data along at least one planar (u,v) surface by collecting an array of planar images directed towards the center of the scene, said array of planar images having inter-element coherence; storing and compressing said acquired light field radiance data; selecting a planar pixel element along a new viewpoint plane; computing line parameters for image rays originating from the scene which pass through said at least one planar (u,v) surface and which intercept said selected pixel element; and calculating the radiance for said image rays intersecting said pixel element by using a subset of said acquired light-field radiance data.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 10, wherein each said image ray is represented by an intersection between two planes.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 11, wherein projective mapping is used to map image rays onto the planar surface of said selected pixel element.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of: selectively decompressing a subset of said acquired lightfield radiance data which is required to calculate the radiance of said image rays intercepting the planar surface of said selected pixel element.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 12, wherein the step of storing and compressing said light field radiance data includes a two-stage pipeline compression scheme.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 14, wherein the two-stage compression scheme comprises a fixed rate vector quantization step and an entropy coding step.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
67 words
The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of: selectively decompressing a subset of said acquired light field radiance data to calculate the radiance of said image rays intercepting said selected pixel element, wherein the step of decompressing includes a decoding stage wherein a file containing compressed data is loaded into memory and a second dequantization stage executed for computing the radiance of said image rays.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 10, wherein said step of computing the radiance for said image rays comprises a resampling process in which a four-dimensional light field radiance function is approximated by interpolating nearest neighbor images.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 10, wherein said step of computing the radiance for said image rays comprises reconstructing a four dimensional plenoptic function.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
79 words
A system for creating and displaying new images of a scene comprising: means for acquiring light field data composed of an array of planar images of the scene along at least one plan a surface, said array of planar images having inter-element coherence; means for storing and compressing said light-field data; means for computing image rays intercepting pixels at a new location; and resampling means for calculating the radiance of said image rays using said compressed light field data.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
79 words
A system for creating and displaying new images of a scene comprising: means for acquiring light field data composed of an array of planar images of the scene along at least one plan a surface, said array of planar images having inter-element coherence; means for storing and compressing said light-field data; means for computing image rays intercepting pixels at a new location; and resampling means for calculating the radiance of said image rays using said compressed light field data.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
29 words
The system of claim 19 wherein said means for acquiring light field data comprises a camera and further comprising: a computer controlled gantry to which said camera is mounted.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
14 words
The system of claim 20, further comprising pan and tilt motors for said camera.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
13 words
The system of claim 20, wherein said camera has a wide angle lens.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
17 words
The system of claim 19, further comprising: means for prefiltering the light field data to alleviate aliasing.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
29 words
The system of claim 23, wherein said means for prefiltering the light field comprises at least one of the group consisting of a pixel filter and an aperture filter.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
17 words
The system of claim 19, wherein said means for acquiring light field data comprises a virtual camera.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
17 words
The system of claim 25, further comprising: rendering means to generate the image of said virtual camera.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
24 words
The system of claim 19, further comprising: means for selectively decompressing a subset of said compressed light field data to generate a new image.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2003-08-01 | 2004-01-31 | 2004-08-01 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2007-08-01 | 2008-01-31 | 2008-08-01 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2011-08-01 | 2012-01-31 | 2012-08-01 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |