Compact camera design to minimize parallax effects

Abstract

An apparatus comprising a plurality of lenses and a frame. The plurality of lenses may be arranged to provide coverage for an omnidirectional 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 omnidirectional field of view. The frame may be configured to hold the plurality of lenses. At least a first one of the lenses and at least a second one of the lenses are neighboring lenses. An orientation of at least two of the neighboring lenses is configured to control parallax effects when the omnidirectional field of view is recorded using the plurality of lenses. The parallax effects are controlled by configuring the optical axes of the neighboring lenses to not line in the same plane.

1 . An apparatus comprising:
 a plurality of lenses (i) arranged to provide coverage for an omnidirectional field of view of a scene surrounding the apparatus and (ii) each having an optical axis directed to provide coverage for a respective area of said omnidirectional field of view; and   a frame configured to hold said plurality of lenses, wherein (i) at least a first one of said lenses and at least a second one of said lenses are neighboring lenses, (ii) an orientation of at least two of said neighboring lenses is configured to control parallax effects when said omnidirectional field of view is recorded using said plurality of lenses and (iii) said parallax effects are controlled by configuring said optical axes of said neighboring lenses to not lie in the same plane.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said frame is configured as a unibody design. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said frame comprises (i) a first base comprising said first one of said lenses and (ii) a second base comprising said second one of said lenses. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the parallax effects are controlled by positioning a center of projection of each of said plurality of lenses close to a common location. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein at least said first one of said lenses and said second one of said lenses are tilted to reduce a distance between said centers of projection of said first one of said lenses and said second one of said lenses and said common location. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein said center of projection of one of said plurality of lenses represents a focal point of a camera. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said apparatus comprises an optical assembly configured to capture raw data for a plurality of video processors. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said first one of said lenses and said second one of said lenses are at least one of (a) positioned orthogonally in reference to each other, (b) tilted in vertically opposite directions and (c) displaced in reference to each other. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein a distance between a center of projection of said first one of said lenses and a center of projection of said second one of said lenses is less than a distance between centers of projection of one of said plurality of lenses opposite to said first one of said lenses. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein said distance between said center of projection of said first one of said lenses and said center of projection of said second one of said lenses decreases based on an angle of inclination. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein centers of projection for said plurality of lenses are all located in a common horizontal plane. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said omnidirectional field of view is recorded by performing video stitching operations on video signals captured using said plurality of lenses. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus according to  claim 12 , wherein said parallax effects cause visual artifacts at overlapping areas of said video signals after performing said video stitching operations. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein (i) said first one of said lenses and a third one of said lenses are aimed in opposite directions along a first axis and (ii) said second one of said lenses and a fourth one of said lenses are aimed in opposite directions along a second axis. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein each of said plurality of lenses comprises a video camera. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said respective area covered by said first one of said lenses and said respective area covered by said second one of said lenses has an overlapping area. 
     
     
         17 . An apparatus comprising a plurality of lenses arranged to:
 (A) provide coverage for an omnidirectional field of view of a scene surrounding the apparatus, wherein (i) each of said plurality of lenses has an optical axis directed to provide coverage for a respective area of said omnidirectional field of view and (ii) any two of said plurality of lenses are considered neighboring lenses when said respective areas covered by said neighboring lenses have an overlapping area; and   (B) control parallax effects associated with said overlapping area when said omnidirectional field of view is captured using said plurality of lenses, wherein said parallax effects are controlled by configuring said optical axes to not lie in the same plane for said neighboring lenses that have a largest size of said overlapping area.   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus according to  claim 17 , wherein said neighboring lenses that have a largest size of said overlapping area are two of said lenses having a distance less than or equal to any other pair of said lenses. 
     
     
         19 . An apparatus comprising:
 a plurality of lenses arranged to provide coverage for an omnidirectional field of view of a scene surrounding the apparatus;   a first base configured to hold (i) a first of said plurality of lenses and (ii) a second of said plurality of lenses; and   a second base configured to hold (i) a third of said plurality of lenses and (ii) a fourth of said plurality of lenses, wherein (i) said first and second lenses are positioned horizontally opposite on a first axis, (ii) said third and fourth lenses are positioned horizontally opposite on a second axis (iii) said first axis and said second axis are orthogonal with respect to each other and (iv) an orientation of said first lens, said second lens, said third lens and said fourth lens is configured to control parallax effects when said omnidirectional field of view is captured using said plurality of lenses.   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus according to  claim 19 , wherein (i) said horizontally opposite position comprises two of said lenses having an orientation 180 degrees apart when projected to a horizontal plane.