Photo-stitching method creates distortion-free 3D panoramas

Disney’s research organisation has developed a way to create high-resolution 3D panoramic images from several smaller photos without distortion.

Computer scientists at Disney Research in Zurich, Switzerland, wanted to overcome the problem that can occur in megapixel panoramas where objects look like they are swaying or go from appearing three dimensional to two as the viewer’s perspective changes.

To solve this, the researchers working on the “Megastereo” project created algorithms that compensate for the fact cameras can only capture light rays from a limited number of pixels and angles by interpolating what light rays are missing in between.


‘Images captured at higher resolution and quality often pose novel challenges,’ said Disney researcher Alexander Sorkine-Hornung. ‘Simply capturing more and higher resolution images usually isn’t feasible and, more importantly, doesn’t fully resolve the issues.’

Producing panoramic images in high-resolution 3D reveal the seams between component pictures that might otherwise be bearable at lower resolutions. This is what distorts the image as the viewer’s perspective alters.

For example, the wide-angle lenses typically used to create panoramas make objects near the images edges appear larger than those in the centre. When these pictures images are stitched together in a horizontal 3D panorama, it can create a displacement that makes objects at the top of the panorama appear to tilt or sway.

The team found that their techniques for correcting problems in 360-degree panoramas taken by a static camera from different angles could also be applied to linear panoramas taken from a camera moving in a straight line.

The researchers will present their findings at the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), June 25-27, in Portland, Oregon, in the US.