Apple patents wider video view using extra side cameras
Apple describes a method for combining images from front-facing and side cameras to create a wider video view. The system calculates depth from the front cameras and uses side camera data to fill in the edges of the image.
In the filing’s own words
Methods and apparatus for providing an expanded field of view (FoV) using multiple cameras of a device. A device may include front-facing cameras that capture views of an environment, as well as side cameras that capture wider-angle views. Images from the front and side cameras may be processed to provide a stereo view of the environment with an expanded FoV. Images from the front cameras are processed to provide stereo images, and depth information is generated from the stereo images. The depth information is expanded into a second layer, and a median depth is set for a third layer. The side camera images are undistorted, pixel information from the side camera images is then reprojected into the second and third layers, and the second and third layers are blurred.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A system, comprising: one or more primary cameras configured to capture one or more first images of an environment; one or more secondary cameras configured to capture one or more second images of the environment from different viewpoints than the one or more primary cameras; and one or more processors configured to: determine depth information for the one or more first images; extend the depth information outward from one or more edges of the one or more first images to generate an expanded region; and reproject pixel data from the one or more second images into the expanded region to generate an expanded field of view (FoV) image of a scene in the environment.
Facts
- Company
- Apple (Apple Inc.)
- Official title
- Expanded field of view using multiple cameras
- Patent number
- US12744872B2
- Application number
- 18691424
- Filed
- Sep 22, 2022
- Granted
- Sep 22, 2026
- Inventors
- 3
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
H04N 13/128 Electricity & electronicsG06T 5/70 Physics & computingG06T 5/77 Physics & computingG06T 7/593 Physics & computingH04N 13/239 Electricity & electronicsH04N 13/344 Electricity & electronicsMore from Apple in Cameras & imaging
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.