Direct Construction of an Inverse Panorama from a Moving View Point

Abstract

The aim of the herby study was a direct and practical mapping of an inverse cylindrical panorama with computer aid. An inverse panoramic projection it is the projection onto a cylindrical, rotary surface or on a fragment of this surface, in which the center of projection is not located like in a typical cylindrical panorama “inside” the cylindrical surface but outside of it.Spreading this idea in the paper, it was taken into consideration the kind of the inverse cylindrical projection from a view point being not stationary but moving. This representation was defined as a multicentre projection from the centres dispersed on a line path which could be straight or curved. Such an approach gave maximum approximation of the received results of the considered projection to real perception one experienced observing the image. The graphical mapping the effects of the representation could be realized directly on the unfolded surface - flat background of the projection. That is due to the projective and graphical connection between points displayed on the cylindrically curved background and their counterparts received on the unrolled flat surface. It allowed to develop a descriptive method for creating edge images of given objects. However, for a significant improvement of the construction of lines, the analytical algorithms were formulated in Mathcad software. Still, they can be implemented in majority of the computer graphical packages, which makes drawing panoramas more efficient and easier. The presented inverse panoramic representation, and the way of its mapping directly on the unrolled flat background can find application in different representations of architectural space in advertisement and art when drawings are displayed on the cylindrically curved surfaces.