Image-space simplifications have been used to accelerate the calculation of computer graphic images since the dawn of visual simulation. Texture mapping has been used to provide a means by which images may themselves be used as display primitives. The work reported by this paper endeavors to carry this concept to its logical extreme by using interpolated images to portray three-dimensional scenes. The special-effects technique of morphing, which combines interpolation of texture maps and their shape, is applied to computing arbitrary intermediate frames from an array of prestored images. If the images are a structured set of views of a 3D object or scene, intermediate frames derived by morphing can be used to approximate intermediate 3D transformations of the object or scene. Using the view interpolation approach to synthesize 3D scenes has two main advantages. First, the 3D representation of the scene may be replaced with images. Second, the image synthesis time is independent of the scene complexity. The correspondence between images, required for the morphing method, can be predetermined automatically using the range data associated with the images. The method is further accelerated by a quadtree decomposition and a view-independent visible priority. Our experiments have shown that the morphing can be performed at interactive rates on today’s high-end personal computers. Potential applications of the method include virtual holograms, a walkthrough in a virtual environment, image-based primitives and incremental rendering. The method also can be used to greatly accelerate the computation of motion blur and soft shadows cast by area light sources.

Existing software systems for visual exploration are limited in their capabilities in that they are only applicable to static omnidirectional images. We present a software system that has the capability to generate at video rate (30 Hz), a large number of perspective and panoramic video streams from a single omnidirectional video input, using no more than a PC. This permits a remote user to create multiple perspective and panoramic views of a dynamic scene, where the parameters of each view (viewing direction, field of view, and magnification) are controlled via an interactive device such as a mouse, joystick or a head-tracker. 1 Introduction Remote visual exploration systems such as QuickTime VR [Chen-1995] allow a user to navigate around a visual environment. This is done by simulating a virtual camera whose parameters are controlled by the user. A fundamental limitation of existing systems is that they are restricted to static environments, i.e. a single wide-angle image of a sce...