The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 03, 2008
Filed:
May. 21, 1999
Danny A. Mccall, Knoxville, TN (US);
H. Lee Martin, Knoxville, TN (US);
Danny A. McCall, Knoxville, TN (US);
H. Lee Martin, Knoxville, TN (US);
Sony Coporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A method and apparatus for capture of a spherical image is disclosed. The present invention includes at least one camera having a lens with at least a 180° field-of-view for capturing a hemispherical image. In a first embodiment, a second hemispherical image is created corresponding to a mirror image of the hemispherical image captured by the camera. In a second embodiment, two back-to-back cameras capture first and second hemispherical images, respectively. In both embodiments, a converter combines the two images along their outside edges to form a single, spherical image. Finally, the converter stores the complete spherical image for later retrieval and perspective corrected viewing.