Abstract: A system comprising a camera and a computing device. The camera may comprise (a) a plurality of capture devices configured to capture images of an environment surrounding the camera to provide a spherical field of view and (b) a first interface. The computing device may comprise (a) a processor and (b) a second interface. The camera may be configured to encode a plurality of video streams based on the captured images. The first interface may be configured to transfer the plurality of video streams to the second interface. The processor may perform a stitching operation on the plurality of video streams to generate a single video signal. The stitching operation may be performed on the plurality of video streams in real time as the plurality of video streams are transferred. The single video signal may be configured to represent an omnidirectional view based on the environment surrounding the camera.

Abstract: An apparatus comprising a plurality of image modules and a plurality of processors. The image modules may each comprise (i) a sensor configured to generate images and (ii) a lens mounted to the sensor. The processors may each be configured to (A) receive the images from a subset of the plurality of image modules and (B) generate a plurality of video streams. Each one of the video streams may be generated by one of the processors in response to the images received from one of the image modules. The subset of the plurality of image modules may comprise at least two distinct image modules of the plurality of image modules. The lenses may be arranged to allow the images to provide coverage for a spherical field of view of a scene surrounding the apparatus.

Abstract: An apparatus comprising a plurality of lenses and a frame. The plurality of lenses may be arranged to provide coverage for a spherical field of view of a scene surrounding the apparatus and each have an optical axis directed to provide coverage for a respective area of the spherical field of view. The frame may be configured to hold a first subset of the plurality of lenses and a second subset of the plurality of lenses. At least one of the lenses in the first subset and at least one of the lenses in the second subset are neighboring lenses. An orientation of at least two of the neighboring lenses is configured to reduce parallax effects when the spherical field of view is recorded using the plurality of lenses. The parallax effects are reduced by configuring the optical axes of the neighboring lenses to not intersect.

Abstract: A method of indicating a suitable pose for a camera for obtaining a stereoscopic image, with the camera comprising an imaging sensor. The method comprises obtaining and storing a first image of a scene using the imaging sensor when the camera is in a first pose; moving the camera to a second pose; and obtaining a second image of the scene when the camera is in the second pose. One or more disparity vectors are determined, each disparity vector being determined between a feature identified within the first image and a corresponding feature identified in the second image. On the basis of the one or more disparity vectors, a determination is made of whether the second image of the scene is suitable for use, together with the first image, as a stereoscopic image pair.

Abstract: A method for extracting characteristic points from an image, includes extracting characteristic points from a first image, generating for each characteristic point a descriptor with several components describing an image region around the characteristic point, and comparing two by two the descriptors of the first image, the characteristic points whose descriptors have a proximity between them greater than an ambiguity threshold, being considered ambiguous.

Abstract: The method for processing signals originating for example from several proximity sensors for the recognition of a movement of an object, comprises first respective samplings of the said signals delivered by the sensors so as to obtain a first set of first date-stamped samples, the generation, from the first set of first date-stamped samples, of new sampling times comprising a start of movement time, an end of movement time, and times regularly spaced between the start of movement time and the end of movement time, a re-sampling of the signal delivered by each sensor between the start of movement time and the end of movement time at the said new sampling times using the first samples, in such a manner as to generate a second set of second date-stamped samples, and a processing of the said second set of date-stamped samples by a movement recognition algorithm.

Abstract: A method for extracting characteristic points from an image, includes extracting characteristic points from a first image, generating for each characteristic point a descriptor with several components describing an image region around the characteristic point, and comparing two by two the descriptors of the first image, the characteristic points whose descriptors have a proximity between them greater than an ambiguity threshold, being considered ambiguous.

Abstract: A method is disclosed of indicating a suitable pose for a camera for obtaining a stereoscopic image, with the camera comprising an imaging sensor. The method comprises obtaining and storing a first image of a scene using the imaging sensor when the camera is in a first pose; moving the camera to a second pose; and obtaining a second image of the scene when the camera is in the second pose. One or more disparity vectors are determined, each disparity vector being determined between a feature identified within the first image and a corresponding feature identified in the second image. On the basis of the one or more disparity vectors, a determination is made of whether the second image of the scene is suitable for use, together with the first image, as a stereoscopic image pair.

Abstract: According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a cardiac roadmapping technique is provided, that does not rely on the prerequisite of a phase-centric pairing of the angiogram and life images. Instead, both the pairing and accurate registration of the images are combined within a single operation, for example by using a multi-device map. This may provide for robust and precise cardiac roadmapping.

Abstract: Bit rate regulation module (3) comprising: a selection block (31) configured to select a frame type to be used to encode a current frame of a video, a determination block (32) configured to determine a target number of bits to be used to encode the current frame, and a computation block (33) configured to compute a quantization step to be used to encode the current frame by using a rate model taking into account a quantization step of a previously encoded reference frame and by modelling rate variations due to a quantization step change between the previously encoded reference frame and the current frame.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a video decoder (DEC) for decoding a bit stream (BS) corresponding to pictures (P) of a video signal, coded pictures being likely to include macroblocks coded in a progressive and in an interlaced way, said decoder including a decoding unit (DEU) for decoding macroblocks coded in a progressive way. A video decoder according to the invention includes a decoding configuration unit (DCU) for activating said decoding unit several times for decoding a single picture and for configuring the read and/or write stride at each pass of said picture in said decoding unit.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a video decoder (DEC) for decoding a bit stream (BS) corresponding to pictures (P) of a video signal, the coded pictures being likely to include macroblocks coded in a progressive and in an interlaced way. The decoder includes a decoding unit (DEU) for decoding macroblocks coded in a progressive way, and a hybrid reference construction unit (HRCU) for constructing, for each reference picture, a hybrid reference texture (HRT) which has the property of representing said reference picture in a frame-based and in a field-based manner. Said hybrid reference texture is used by said decoding unit for decoding interlaced macroblocks.

Abstract: According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a cardiac roadmapping technique is provided, in which a static roadmap is built onto which a view of the intervention device is projected at the correct location. This new viewing mode combines the advantages of both roadmapping, i.e. accurate localization, and the advantages of a motion-free view, i.e. maximum readability.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a video decoder for decoding a bit stream corresponding to pictures of a video signal. The invention is such that, motion vectors having values coded at a nominal resolution in the bit stream, said video decoder includes a rounding unit for rounding decoded nominal motion vectors to a resolution different from the nominal resolution in a way that minimizes the error accumulation along prediction path by assigning to rounded successive motion vectors along the prediction path, successive values such that their average value is equal to the value of the nominal motion vector.

Abstract: Wire tips and balloon/stent markers are the main landmarks used by cardiologists for navigation and precise stent placement under X-Ray fluoroscopy surveillance. These intra-coronary devices are semi radio-opaque. In some situations, their visibility can be extremely low. The claimed may help the cardiologists by detecting the objects and darkening them on the live X-Ray image to increase their visibility. The darkening processing takes into account the image properties around the objects or detection information in order to obtain a better contrast enhancement. This technique also avoids the introduction of disturbing artefacts when the object detection fails.

Abstract: An encoding method applied to an input video sequence corresponding to successive scenes subdivided into successive video object planes (VOPs) is provided that generates, for coding all the video objects of said scenes, a coded bit stream the content of which is described in terms of separate channels and constituted of encoded video data in which each data item is described by a bitstream syntax that allows the recognition and decoding of all the elements of the content. The syntax comprises an additional syntactic information provided for describing independently the type of temporal prediction of the various channels. The additional information is a syntactic element placed at the slice level or the macroblock level in the coded bitstream, and its meaning is either specific for each present channel or shared by all existing channels.

Abstract: The invention relates to the field of video compression and, more specifically, to a video encoding method applied to an input sequence of frames in which each frame is subdivided into blocks of arbitrary size. This method comprises, for at least a part of said blocks of the current frame, the steps of generating on a block basis motion-compensated frames, each one being obtained from each current original frame and a previous reconstructed frame, generating from said motion-compensated frames residual signals, using a so-called matching pursuit (MP) algorithm for decomposing each of said generated residual signals into coded dictionary functions called atoms, the other blocks of the current frame being processed by means of other coding techniques, and coding said atoms and the motion vectors determined during the motion compensation step, for generating an output coded bitstream.

Abstract: The invention relates to the field of video compression and, more specifically, to a video encoding method applied to an input sequence of frames in which each frame is subdivided into blocks of arbitrary size.

Abstract: According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a cardiac roadmapping technique is provided, that does not rely on the prerequisite of a phase-centric pairing of the angiogram and life images. Instead, both the pairing and accurate registration of the images are combined within a single operation, for example by using a multi-device map. This may provide for robust and precise cardiac roadmapping.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a video decoder (DEC) for decoding a bit stream (BS) corresponding to pictures (FR) of a video signal. The invention is such that, motion vectors (MV1) having values coded at a nominal resolution in the bit stream, said video decoder includes a rounding unit (RND) for rounding decoded nominal motion vectors (MV1) to a resolution different from the nominal resolution in a way that minimizes the error accumulation along prediction path by giving to rounded successive motion vectors (MV2) along the prediction path, successive values such that their average value is equal to the value of the nominal motion vector.