Omnistereo for panoramic virtual environment display systems

This paper discusses the use of omnidirectional stereo for panoramic virtual environments. It presents two methods for real-time rendering of omnistereo images. Conventional perspective stereo is correct everywhere in the visual field, but only in one view direction. Omnistereo is correct in every view direction, but only in the center of the visual field, degrading in the periphery. Omnistereo images make it possible to use wide field of view virtual environment display systems-like the CAVE™-without head tracking, and still show correct stereoscopic depth over the full 360° viewing circle. This allows the use of these systems as true multi-user displays, where viewers can look around and browse a panoramic scene independently. Because there is no need to rerender the image according to view direction, we can also use this technique to present static omnistereo images, generated by offline rendering or real image capture, in panoramic displays. We have implemented omnistereo in a four-sided CAVE™ and in a 240° i-Con™ curved screen projection system. Informal user evaluation confirms that omnistereo images present a seamless image with correct stereoscopic depth in every view direction without head tracking.