Occlusionless method for virtual image insertion

Abstract

A system and method of occlusionless virtual insertion is disclosed that uses an animation of the image. The animation has a full image frame, a null frame, and a number of intervening video frames. When the animation is run, the image appears to be physically moved behind an edge of the animation video frames. An event video-stream is duplicated, and the duplicate delayed to provide a delayed event video-stream. The animation, stopped at the full image frame, is mixed into the delayed event video-stream steam at a selected location using video match moving algorithms. The resultant video-stream is broadcast. The un-delayed, event video-stream is monitored in the region corresponding to where the virtual insertion is occurring in the delayed event video-stream. When this corresponding region begins to become occluded by a foreground object, the animation is triggered. As the time delay of the delayed event video-stream equals the time it takes the animation to run from the full image frame to the null frame, when the foreground object moves into the insertion region in the delayed event video-stream there is no inserted image to occlude it. To the viewer, it appears as if the image is on a movable sign, and just happened to be translated out of view before the object of interest moved into the region.