Omnifocused 3D display using the nonfrontal imaging camera

The Nonfrontal Imaging Camera (NICAM) simultaneously provides omnifocused intensity and range panoramics (i.e., panoramic intensity images and depth maps). In this paper, we describe the estimation of range which is based on focusing. An analysis of errors in the range estimates is presented along with examples of experimental results. The image and depth map are combined to approximate and reconstruct pseudostereo pairs from NICAM's viewpoint for use in 3D displaying of the scene. Estimates of such stereo views can be used to advantage in virtual reality environments.