Methods for transferring points of interest between images with non-parallel viewing directions

Abstract

A method for identifying within a working image of a scene a point of interest designated within a designation image of a scene, the designation image being taken along a first viewing direction and the working image being taken along a second viewing direction, the second viewing direction being significantly non-parallel to the first viewing direction, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining a designation image of the scene; obtaining a working image of the scene; correlating said designation image and said working image with each other, directly or by correlating each of said designation image and said working image with a common reference image, so as to derive an interrelation between said designation image and said working image; and employing said interrelation between said designation image and said working image to derive a location within said working image of a point of interest designated within said designation image, characterized in that the method further comprises: obtaining a secondary designation image taken along a viewing direction displaced from, but similar to, the first viewing direction; and co-processing said designation image and said secondary designation image to derive range information relating to a plurality of pixels in said designation image, thereby defining a partial relative three-dimensional model of a portion of the scene relative to the viewing direction of said designation image, wherein said partial relative three-dimensional model is used in said step of correlating.