Re: 360 degree video real time... interested?

[Dave <dju@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 22:46:31 -0400, "z"
<rmwbsee@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>I have developed product to fit on cams such as x10 [or any other] that
>caputures and  displays realtime 360 video.
>
>

I worked on software for a startup company that had their
own 360 camera hardware at the point where they were ready
to mass produce them. But the CEO wanted to do what I call
"patent squatting" instead of making something out of the
technology.

What I saw on the screen after converting the polar images
into panoramic images was that the lack of resolution in a
normal video camera severely limits the clarity of the
converted panos. The cameras I worked with could not allow
the viewer to recognize the letters on a license plate if
the camera were placed several feet away. We could just
barely make them out. I'd like to see the best resolution
that a 360 -> pano image can offer before getting up hopes
on how useful the technology can be.

Also I found out that it's not possible for a dual-CPU 2.8
GHZ 1GB ram system to keep up with the data rate of the
incoming video frames if each frame has to be converted. If
the conversion only uses part of the polar image then it may
be able to keep up. (But anything above 15 FPS is ok with me
as a viewer, though. I don't need the full frame rate in
order to perceive smooth movement.)

IMO: Low res, non-clear, low frame rates are what can be
expected when converting 360 polar into rectangular panos
unless something is done to make use of higher resolution
video as well as faster processors and more efficient
conversion software.

I feel that there are uses, though and I think one of them
is to protect a wide area using motion detection and maybe
even use a 360 camera to automatically aim a pan-tilt camera
automatically. I would love to try a 360 camera mounted on a
remote control car and drive it using viewing software to
simulate the view from the driver point of view. But if you
want to see the face of the person on your porch, I doubt
360 NTSC video converted into panos or zoomed parts of a
pano view can provide that much clarity.

Just my opinion on the nature of the technology that I was
involved with.

Dave