Abstract: A capture system may capture light-field data representative of an environment for use in virtual reality, augmented reality, and the like. The system may have a plurality of light-field cameras arranged to capture a light-field volume within the environment, and a processor. The processor may use the light-field volume to generate a first virtual view depicting the environment from a first virtual viewpoint. The light-field cameras may be arranged in a tiled array to define a capture surface with a ring-shaped, spherical, or other arrangement. The processor may map the pixels captured by the image sensors to light rays received in the light-field volume, and store data descriptive of the light rays in a coordinate system representative of the light-field volume.

Abstract: According to various embodiments, the system and method disclosed herein process light-field image data so as to mitigate lens flare effects. A light-field image may be captured with a light-field image capture device with a microlens array and received in a data store. A plurality of flare-affected pixels may be identified in the light-field image. The flare-affected pixels may have flare-affected pixel values. Flare-corrected pixel values may be generated for the flare-affected pixels. Relative to the flare-affected pixel values, the flare-corrected pixel values may at least partially remove the lens flare effects. The flare-corrected pixel values may be used to generate a corrected light-field image in which the lens flare effects are at least partially corrected. The corrected light-field image may be displayed on a display screen.

Abstract: Motion blur may be applied to a light-field image. The light-field image may be captured with a light-field camera having a main lens, an image sensor, and a plurality of microlenses positioned between the main lens and the image sensor. The light-field image may have a plurality of lenslet images, each of which corresponds to one microlens of the microlens array. The light-field image may be used to generate a mosaic of subaperture images, each of which has pixels from the same location on each of the lenslet images. Motion vectors may be computed to indicate motion occurring within at least a primary subaperture image of the mosaic. The motion vectors may be used to carry out shutter reconstruction of the mosaic to generate a mosaic of blurred subaperture images, which may then be used to generate a motion-blurred light-field image.

Abstract: According to various embodiments of the present invention, the optical systems of light field capture devices are optimized so as to improve captured light field image data. Optimizing optical systems of light field capture devices can result in captured light field image data (both still and video) that is cheaper and/or easier to process. Optical systems can be optimized to yield improved quality or resolution when using cheaper processing approaches whose computational costs fit within various processing and/or resource constraints. As such, the optical systems of light field cameras can be optimized to reduce size and/or cost and/or increase the quality of such optical systems.

Abstract: An image such as a light-field image may be processed to provide depth-based blurring. The image may be received in a data store. At an input device, first and second user input may be received to designate a first focus depth and a second focus depth different from the first focus depth, respectively. A processor may identify one or more foreground portions of the image that have one or more foreground portion depths, each of which is less than the first focus depth. The processor may also identify one or more background portions of the image that have one or more background portion depths, each of which is greater than the second focus depth. The processor may also apply blurring to the one or more foreground portions and the one or more background portions to generate a processed image, which may be displayed on a display device.

Abstract: According to various embodiments, a light-field image may be compressed and/or decompressed to facilitate storage, transmission, or other functions related to the light-field image. A light-field image may be captured by a light-field image capture device having an image sensor and a microlens array. The light-field image may be received in a data store. A processor may generate a first refocus image pool with a plurality of refocus images based on the light-field image. The processor may further use the first refocus image pool to compress the light-field image to generate a bitstream, smaller than the light-field image, which is representative of the light-field image. The processor or a different processor may also be used to generate a second refocus image pool with a second plurality of images based on the bitstream. The second refocus image pool may be used to decompress the bitstream to generate a reconstructed light-field image.

Abstract: An image such as a light-field image may be captured with a light-field image capture device with a microlens array. The image may be received in a data store along with a depth map that indicates depths at which objects in different portions of the image are disposed. A function may be applied to the depth map to generate a mask that defines a gradual transition between the different depths. An effect may be applied to the image through the use of the mask such that applicability of the effect is determined by the mask. A processed image may be generated. The first effect may be present in the processed image, as applied previously. The processed image may be displayed on a display device. If desired, multiple effects may be applied through the generation of multiple masks, depth maps, and/or intermediate images prior to generation of the processed image.

Abstract: According to various embodiments, the system and method disclosed herein process light-field image data so as to mitigate or remove the effects of pixel saturation in light-field images. A light-field image may be captured with a light-field image capture device with a microlens array. The light-field image may be demodulated, and then a recovered value for each saturated pixel of the demodulated light-field image may be obtained. This may be done by comparing a saturated value of each saturated pixel with reference values of reference pixels proximate the saturated pixel and, if the proximate pixels have a higher reference value than the saturated value, setting the saturated pixel to the reference value. This process may be carried out iteratively until recovered values are obtained for the saturated pixels. A demodulated, saturation-recovered light-field image may then be generated and displayed with the recovered values for the saturated pixels.

Abstract: According to various embodiments, the system and method disclosed herein serve to at least partially compensate for departures of an actual main lens of a light-field camera from the properties of an ideal main lens. Light-field data may be captured and processed through the use of product calibration data and unit calibration data. The product calibration data may be descriptive of departure of a main lens design of the light-field camera from an ideal main lens design. The unit calibration data may be descriptive of departure of the actual main lens of the light-field camera from the main lens design. Corrected light-field data may be generated as a result of the processing, and may be used to generate a light-field image.

Abstract: According to various embodiments of the invention, a system and method are provided for enabling interaction with, manipulation of, and control of depth-assigned content in depth-enhanced pictures. Depth-assigned content can be assigned to a specified depth value. When a depth-enhanced picture is refocused at a focus depth substantially different from the specified assigned depth value, the depth-assigned content may be omitted, grayed out, blurred, or otherwise visually distinguished. In this manner, content associated with an in-focus image element can be visually distinguished from content associated with an out-of-focus image element. For example, in at least one embodiment, depth-assigned content is visible only when an image element associated with the content is in focus (or nearly in focus). According to various embodiments of the invention, many different types of interactions are facilitated among depth-assigned content, depth-enhanced pictures, and other content.

Abstract: A method is performed to refocus a digital photographic image comprising a plurality of pixels. In the method, a set of images is computed corresponding to the digital photographic image and focused at different depths. Refocus depths for at least a subset of the pixels are identified and stored in a look-up table. At least a portion of the digital photographic image is refocused at a desired refocus depth determined from the look-up table.

Abstract: A light field data acquisition device includes optics and a light field sensor to acquire light field image data of a scene. In at least one embodiment, the light field sensor is located at a substantially fixed, predetermined distance relative to the focal point of the optics. In response to user input, the light field acquires the light field image data of the scene, and a storage device stores the acquired data. Such acquired data can subsequently be used to generate a plurality of images of the scene using different virtual focus depths.

Abstract: In various embodiments, the present invention relates to methods, systems, architectures, algorithms, designs, and user interfaces for light-field based autofocus. In response to receiving a focusing request at a camera, a light-field autofocus system captures a light-field image. An image crop that contains a region of interest and a specified border is determined. A series of refocused images are generated for the image crop at different scene depths. A focus metric is calculated for each refocused image. The scene depth of the refocused image with the best focus metric is identified as the appropriate focus. The focus motor position for the appropriate focus is selected and the focus motor is automatically driven to the selected focus motor position.

Abstract: According to various embodiments, the system and method disclosed herein process light-field image data so as to prevent, mitigate, and/or remove artifacts and/or other image degradation effects. A light-field image may be captured with a light-field image capture device with a microlens array. Based on a depth map of the light-field image, a plurality of layers may be created, and samples from the light-field image may be projected onto the layers to create a plurality of layer images. The layer images may be processed with one or more algorithms such as an inpainting algorithm to fill null values, a reconstruction algorithm to correct degradation effects from capture, and/or an enhancement algorithm to adjust the color, brightness, contrast, and/or sharpness of the layer image. Then, the layer images may be combined to generate a processed light-field image.

Abstract: An optical assembly includes a solid spacing layer between a plenoptic microlens array (MLA) and a pixel-level MLA, avoiding the need for an air gap. Such an assembly, and systems and methods for manufacturing same, can yield improved reliability and efficiency of production, and can avoid many of the problems associated with prior art approaches. In at least one embodiment, the plenoptic MLA, the spacing layer, and the pixel-level MLA are created from optically transmissive polymer(s) deposited on the photosensor array and shaped using photolithographic techniques. Such an approach improves precision in placement and dimensions, and avoids other problems associated with conventional polymer-on-glass architectures. Further variations and techniques are described.

Abstract: Microlens positions for a light-field capture device may be calibrated. A calibration light-field image may be captured, with a microlens portion corresponding to each microlens of the light-field capture device. Interstitial spaces between the microlens portions may be identified and used to locate one or more center locations of the microlens portions. The center locations may be used to generate a model that indicates the microlens positions. Additionally or alternatively, the calibration light field image may be used to select one or more contour samples from among multiple contour samples of the microlens portions. The contour sample may be fitted to a circle centered at a center location of a microlens portion to identify the center location, which may then be used to generate a model that indicates the microlens positions. Multiple iterations may be used to enhance the accuracy of the models.

Abstract: RAW images and/or light field images may be compressed through the use of specialized techniques. The color depth of a light field image may be reduced through the use of a bit reduction algorithm such as a K-means algorithm. The image may then be retiled to group pixels of similar intensities and/or colors. The retiled image may be padded with extra pixel rows and/or pixel columns as needed, and compressed through the use of an image compression algorithm. The compressed image may be assembled with metadata pertinent to the manner in which compression was done to form a compressed image file. The compressed image file may be decompressed by following the compression method in reverse.

Abstract: A dual-mode light field camera or plenoptic camera is enabled to perform both 3D light field imaging and conventional high-resolution 2D imaging, depending on the selected mode. In particular, an active system is provided that enables the microlenses to be optically or effectively turned on or turned off, allowing the camera to selectively operate as a 2D imaging camera or a 3D light field camera.

Abstract: According to various embodiments, the system and method disclosed herein facilitate the design of plenoptic camera lens systems to enhance camera resolution. A first configuration for the plenoptic camera may first be selected, with a first plurality of variables that define attributes of the plenoptic camera. The attributes may include a main lens attribute of a main lens of the plenoptic camera and/or a phase mask attribute of a phase mask of the plenoptic camera. A merit function may be applied by simulating receipt of light through the main lens and the plurality of microlenses of the first configuration to calculate a first merit function value. The main lens attribute and/or the phase mask attribute may be iteratively perturbed, and the merit function may be re-applied. An optimal set of variables may be identified by comparing results of successive applications of the merit function.

Abstract: According to various embodiments, the system and method of the present invention process light-field image data so as to reduce color artifacts, reduce projection artifacts, and/or increase dynamic range. These techniques operate, for example, on image data affected by sensor saturation and/or microlens modulation. Flat-field images are captured and converted to modulation images, and then applied on a per-pixel basis, according to techniques described herein.