In
photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...
, an omnidirectional camera (from "omni", meaning all), also known as 360-degree camera, is a
camera
A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...
having a
field of view
The field of view (FoV) is the extent of the observable world that is seen at any given moment. In the case of optical instruments or sensors it is a solid angle through which a detector is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation.
Humans a ...
that covers approximately the entire sphere or at least a full circle in the
horizontal plane
In astronomy, geography, and related sciences and contexts, a '' direction'' or ''plane'' passing by a given point is said to be vertical if it contains the local gravity direction at that point.
Conversely, a direction or plane is said to be hor ...
.
Omnidirectional cameras are important in areas where large visual field coverage is needed, such as in
panoramic photography
Panoramic photography is a technique of photography, using specialized equipment or software, that captures images with horizontally elongated fields of view. It is sometimes known as ''wide format photography''. The term has also been applied to ...
and
robotics
Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrat ...
.
Overview
A camera normally has a field of view that ranges from a few degrees to, at most, 180°. This means that it captures, at most, light falling onto the camera
focal point through a hemisphere. In contrast, an ''ideal'' omnidirectional camera captures light from all directions falling onto the focal point, covering a full sphere. In practice, however, most omnidirectional cameras cover only almost the full sphere and many cameras which are referred to as omnidirectional cover only approximately a hemisphere, or the full 360° along the equator of the sphere but excluding the top and bottom of the sphere. In the case that they cover the full sphere, the captured light rays do not intersect exactly in a single focal point.
Various techniques can be used to generate 360-degree images.
Cameras with one lens
These models are used with a
fisheye lens
A fisheye lens is an ultra wide-angle lens that produces strong visual distortion intended to create a wide panoramic or hemispherical image. Fisheye lenses achieve extremely wide angles of view, well beyond any rectilinear lens. Instead of pr ...
. The lens bends the angle of the shot to take a larger radius of the selected subject. It is not possible to take a complete 360-degree picture with this technique because there is always a dead angle directly behind the lens.
Cameras with two lenses (Dual Fisheye)
360-degree cameras with two lenses are probably the most common type, as they can accommodate a full 360-degree angle with two lenses facing each other. A camera takes pictures and videos with an angle of just over 180 degrees, e.g. 220 degrees. These are then converted into a 360-degree object using software. Problems are often caused by
stitching errors that can happen at any given time. This means that an incorrect combination of the images can result in an unclean cut edge that is difficult or impossible to remove.
Cameras with more than two lenses
Depending on the application, manufacturers use more than two camera lenses to produce the images. One of the first cameras was Sony' Fourthview multihead camera and the throwing camera,
Panono. It has 36 cameras, which are triggered at the same time at the highest point, if the camera was thrown into the air. The more lenses are installed in the camera, the more difficult it becomes for the software to combine the individual images, however, the possible stitching problems are less with a good stitching.
Camera rigs
Camera rigs are mostly used for the attachment of 6 conventional Actioncams. GoPro produced one of the first camera rigs. They are available in different versions and connect several single cameras. The cameras are placed in this cube and record the surroundings in all directions.
Mosaic based cameras
If several "normal" cameras are combined in a network, one speaks of mosaic-based cameras. Each of these cameras records a small area of the environment. The individual images are then joined together like mosaic stones to form an omnidirectional overall image. The number of cameras to be used depends on the focal length of the lenses used. The smaller the focal length, the larger the angle of view and the fewer cameras are required.
Applications
Cars
Cars with omnidirectional camera include
Nissan Qashqai
The Nissan Qashqai () is a compact crossover SUV (C-segment) developed and produced by the Japanese car manufacturer Nissan since 2006. The first generation of the vehicle was sold under the name in Japan and Australia, and Qashqai in other marke ...
,
Volvo S90
The Volvo S90 is an Executive car, executive sedan manufactured and marketed by Swedish automaker Volvo Cars since 2016. Its station wagon, estate variant is called the Volvo V90.
Models
For the model year of 2017 (the first model year), a shor ...
,
Range Rover
Range may refer to:
Geography
* Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra)
** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands
* Range, a term used to i ...
,
Peugeot 3008
The Peugeot 3008 is a compact crossover SUV manufactured and marketed by Peugeot. It was first presented to the public in Dubrovnik, Croatia in 2008, and then again in 2010 at the Mondial de l'Automobile in Paris, by the French manufacturer Peuge ...
and
Kia Stinger
The Kia Stinger ( ko, 기아 스팅어) is a mid-size liftback manufactured by Kia since 2017.
Overview
The Stinger traces its roots to the GT Concept from the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show and the Kia GT4 Stinger from the 2014 North American In ...
.
Panoramic art
![Jefferson Graham on Manhattan Beach Pier](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Jefferson_Graham_on_Manhattan_Beach_Pier.jpg)
Traditional approaches to panoramic photography mainly consists of stitching shots taken separately into a single, continuous image. The stitching of images, however, is computationally intensive (for example using the
RANSAC Random sample consensus (RANSAC) is an iterative method to estimate parameters of a mathematical model from a set of observed data that contains outliers, when outliers are to be accorded no influence on the values of the estimates. Therefore, it a ...
iterative algorithm, commonly used to solve the
correspondence problem
The correspondence problem refers to the problem of ascertaining which parts of one image correspond to which parts of another image, where differences are due to movement of the camera, the elapse of time, and/or movement of objects in the photo ...
), and depending upon the quality and consistency of the shots used, the resulting image might contain a number of deficiencies which impair the quality of the resulting image. In contrast, an omnidirectional camera can be used to create panoramic art in real time, without the need for post processing, and will typically give much better quality products.
In 2015 Facebook began rolling out
omnidirectional videos where the user can view the video at any arbitrary
camera angle
The camera angle marks the specific location at which the movie camera or video camera is placed to take a shot. A scene may be shot from several camera angles simultaneously. This will give a different experience and sometimes emotion. The diffe ...
around a 360-degree radius and limited
tilt
Tilt may refer to:
Music
* Tilt (American band), a punk rock group, formed in 1992
* Tilt (British band), an electronic music group, formed in 1993
* Tilt (Polish band), a rock band, formed in 1979
Albums
* ''Tilt'' (Cozy Powell album), 1981
* ...
up-and-down angles.
Robotics and computer vision
In robotics, omnidirectional cameras are frequently used for
visual odometry
In robotics and computer vision, visual odometry is the process of determining the position and orientation of a robot by analyzing the associated camera images. It has been used in a wide variety of robotic applications, such as on the Mars Expl ...
and to solve
simultaneous localization and mapping
Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) is the computational problem of constructing or updating a map of an unknown environment while simultaneously keeping track of an agent's location within it. While this initially appears to be a chick ...
(SLAM) problems visually.
Due to its ability to capture a 360-degree view, better results can be obtained for
optical flow
Optical flow or optic flow is the pattern of apparent motion of objects, surfaces, and edges in a visual scene caused by the relative motion between an observer and a scene. Optical flow can also be defined as the distribution of apparent veloci ...
and feature selection and matching.
Real Estate
360 cameras have become extremely popular within the real estate industry. With more and more homes being purchased sight-unseen, 360 camera technology has offered a way for prospective home buyers to tour the home without having to be there in person. There are even 360 cameras on the market that have been created with real estate as the main subject in mind.
Miscellaneous
Applications of omnidirectional cameras also include
3D reconstruction
In computer vision and computer graphics, 3D reconstruction is the process of capturing the shape and appearance of real objects.
This process can be accomplished either by active or passive methods. If the model is allowed to change its shape i ...
and surveillance, when it is important to cover as large a visual field as possible.
Microsoft RoundTable
Microsoft RoundTable was a videoconferencing device with a Omnidirectional camera, 360-degree camera that was designed to work with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 or Microsoft Office Live Meeting. RoundTable provided remote meeting p ...
was introduced in 2007 for
videoconferencing
Videotelephony, also known as videoconferencing and video teleconferencing, is the two-way or multipoint reception and transmission of audio signal, audio and video signals by people in different locations for Real-time, real time communication. ...
, where all participants on one location can be in the same image.
Products
Several implementations of omnidirectional (360-degree) cameras exist, including two opposing fisheye lens configurations and cameras with more than 30 separate lenses.
There have been fly-by-night companies that have produced prototypes and collected 'backers' on Kickstarter but have not delivered to end-users.
More established 360-camera manufacturers currently actively producing and supporting hardware as of March 2020 include:
*
Red Digital Cinema
Red Digital Cinema (''Red Digital Cinema Camera Company'') is an American company that manufactures professional digital cinematography cameras and accessories.
The company's headquarters is in Foothill Ranch, California, with studios in Hollyw ...
*Ricoh
*
Insta360
Arashi Vision Inc. (Chinese: 影石创新科技股份有限公司), doing business as Insta360, is a camera company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, with offices in Los Angeles, Tokyo and Berlin. It makes action cameras, 360-degree cameras, ...
* Gear360
* GoPro
* MadV
* Vuze
* Panono
* Kandao
* Trisio
* Z-CAM
* FXG
Frequent new models and quality improvements in consumer-marketed 360-cameras are blurring the line between the professional and consumer market.
See also
*
360 panorama
*
360-degree video
360-degree videos, also known as surround video, or immersive videos or spherical videos, are video recordings where a view in every direction is recorded at the same time, shot using an omnidirectional camera or a collection of cameras. During pl ...
*
Immersive video
360-degree videos, also known as surround video, or immersive videos or spherical videos, are video recordings where a view in every direction is recorded at the same time, shot using an omnidirectional camera or a collection of cameras. During pl ...
*
Light-field camera
A light field camera, also known as a plenoptic camera, is a camera that captures information about the ''light field'' emanating from a scene; that is, the intensity of light in a scene, and also the precise direction that the light rays are tr ...
*
MSG Sphere
*
Multiple-camera setup
The multiple-camera setup, multiple-camera mode of production, multi-camera or simply multicam is a method of filmmaking and video production. Several cameras—either film or professional video cameras—are employed on the set and simultaneous ...
*
Panoramic tripod head {{unreferenced, date=July 2018
A panoramic tripod head is a piece of photographic equipment, mounted to a tripod, which allows photographers to shoot a sequence of images around the entrance pupil of a lens that can be used to produce a panorama. ...
*
Stereo camera
A stereo camera is a type of camera with two or more lenses with a separate image sensor or film frame for each lens. This allows the camera to simulate human binocular vision, and therefore gives it the ability to capture three-dimensional i ...
*
VR photography
VR photography (after virtual-reality photography) is the interactive viewing of panoramic photographs, generally encompassing a 360-degree circle or a spherical view. The results is known as VR photograph (or VR photo), 360-degree photo, photo ...
*
Whole sky camera
A whole sky camera is a specialized camera used in meteorology and astronomy for capturing a photograph of the entire sky. Another application is that of hemispherical photography to study plant canopy geometry and to calculate near-ground solar ra ...
References
External links
{{Commons category, Omnidirectional cameras
UPenn Omnidirectional Vision page
Panoramic cameras
Image sensor technology in computer vision