System and method of integrating live video into a contextual background

[0001] The present invention is related to, and claims the benefit of, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/244,053 filed Oct. 27, 2000 entitled, “Real-Time Video Integration with Mapping Software”.

[0002] This invention was made with U.S. Government support under Navy contract No. N0024-98-D-8124. The U.S. Government has certain rights in this invention.

[0003] The present invention relates generally to a system and method for integrating live video into a contextual background. More specifically, the present invention relates generally to a system and method for integrating live aerial video onto a broader background map in order to provide a larger context for the live video.

[0004] There are many uses for live video that include military applications, search and rescue, and general surveillance among others. While receiving a live video feed certainly provides much useful information for the task at hand, often it is difficult to interpret the data without having a broader perspective. For instance, consider a search and rescue mission that is utilizing aerial video to assist in finding a lost person. The field of view of the camera is limited. The ability to dynamically insert the live video into a broader background image greatly enhances the useful information. With a larger background, anything of interest that is spotted by the live video can instantly be correlated to any number of landmarks that are outside the view of the camera. This can allow for more efficient rescue operations if, for instance, the location can be immediately put into a larger perspective that includes the roads that will lead to the person the quickest.

[0005] Current existing products for displaying a video feed over another image are not nearly robust enough to allow for a dynamic repositioning of the camera providing the video feed.

[0006] What has not yet been achieved is a system or method that displays a background image that contains a smaller live image placed over a portion of the larger background image such that the live image is correctly positioned and scaled with respect to the background image.

[0007] Thus, what is needed is a system and method that can display an image of a live picture that is placed correctly relative to a background image. Moreover, the system should be dynamic in nature allowing the live picture to be moved around the background image in real-time.

[0008] In order to seamlessly insert a live video feed into a static background image while maintaining the proper positioning and scaling of the combined image the live video feed is first texturized onto a surface. The surface is a set of points that are translated to the location, e.g., latitude/longitude coordinates, of the live video source. A series of matrix transformations of the texturized surface coordinates is performed. First, the texturized surface is rotated to be tangential to the earth at that location. The location information is synchronized with the live video feed and is passed along with the live video feed in a position information signal to the processing device performing the coordinate transformations. Next, the texturized surface is rotated again to reflect the heading of the live video source. The heading information, including pitch, yaw, and roll, etc. of the camera is also included in the position information signal that accompanies the live video feed. Lastly, the texturized surface is scaled to conform to the background image and the transformed live image is inserted into the larger background image in its proper position.

[0009] Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.

[0012] The insertion of a smaller image into a larger image gives a new perspective to the smaller image in that it can be viewed in the context of a much larger picture. The new perspective provides additional information not available by viewing just the smaller image alone. In order to seamlessly insert a live video feed into a larger background image, the live video feed must be processed so that it can be properly positioned within the background image. The goal is to allow the smaller image to be properly positioned within the larger image and to allow the smaller image to be moved seamlessly and in real-time all over the background image.

[0013] The description herein relates to a typical application of the present invention that involves an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) having a video source (camera) mounted thereon. The UAV flies over an area providing live video via its camera to a remotely situated display viewable by a system operator. This application is merely illustrative as it provides an environment within which to describe the processes performed by the present invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art can readily devise other applications without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a flowchart describing the steps comprising the present invention. The present invention utilizes a double buffer system. Each buffer includes data for both the current live video frame and the background image. One buffer is subjected to a series of processing steps and upon completion of the processing, it is swapped to the display screen. Double buffering allows for a more eye appealing screen display that is not disjointed. Each frame of the live video feed is individually processed and the screen display is refreshed for each frame.

[0015] The first step is to texture map or “texturize” the current live video frame 10 onto a surface. Texture mapping is a well-known process that involves taking a picture and drawing it onto a polygon such as a triangle. There are many texture mapping processes that currently exist. One embodiment of the present invention uses the Silicon Graphics “OpenGL” set of tools to perform texture mapping and coordinate transformations. The next step is to translate the texturized frame so that it is centered on the viewpoint of the video source (camera) 12. The video frame is then bound to the texturized image 14.

[0016] A series of matrix transformations are performed on the texturized image 16 in order to make the live video frame seamlessly insertable into the larger background image. The first matrix transformation involves translating the texturized frame to the correct position relative to the background image 16a. In order to perform this step, the live video feed from the video source must be synchronized with precise information pertaining to the current status of the video source. Status information includes, but is not limited to, orientation, pitch, roll, and zoom. Mere position and heading information is insufficient, because image jitter introduced as the video source turns or is buffeted by wind causes the video source to no longer point straight down. Without precise position information, the live video and the background image map will not be synchronized.

[0017] The next transformation is to rotate the texturized frame so it is tangent to the background image 16b. In other words, the texturized image is warped to conform to the surface of the background image. This is followed by rotating the texturized image again so that it is aligned with the current heading of the video source 16c. Lastly, the texturized image is scaled to conform to the scaling factor of the background image 16d.

[0018] Once the texturized image has been completely transformed, it can be inserted 18 into the background image in its proper position. The processed buffer is swapped onto the display screen for viewing and the next live video frame is obtained 19.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a sample screen display showing a live video feed integrated into a contextual map background. The background map 20 shown here is a portion of a street map. The circles 22a-c represent a live video feed from a camera flying overhead. The area of the circle(s) corresponds to the field of view of the camera. Each circle represents a frame-by-frame shift in the live video feed as the camera flies over an area. For instance, circle 22a corresponds to frame 1, circle 22b corresponds to frame 2, and circle 22c corresponds to frame 3. The circles change heading as the camera changes heading.

[0020] In a similar manner, a street map or other image can be texture mapped over the background map to provide a detailed picture of an area. In a two-dimensional display, this is a simple process of knowing the coordinates of the image location, drawing a rectangle over the background, and texture mapping the image onto the rectangle. In a three-dimensional display, the image could also be textured onto an elevation grid, which allows it to display the gradations of the terrain beneath and make use of lighting to highlight elevation changes. Currently, the image that is read in is RGB format, but that can be expanded to include multiple image formats, such as a bitmap (BMP).

[0021] The background image maps can be obtained from any number of sources including, but not limited to, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) maps. For purposes of the present invention, the background maps are considered data to be imported and used by the processes of the present invention. Similarly, the position data of the camera including its heading information is data to be processed by the present invention. Thus, the coordinate system used is not critical to the present invention since the coordinate system merely represents data that can be translated. The present invention can thus be implemented to work with a variety of background images and a variety of coordinate systems without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

[0022] It is to be understood that the present invention illustrated herein is readily implementable by those of ordinary skill in the art as a computer program product having a medium with a computer program embodied thereon. The computer program product is capable of being loaded and executed on the appropriate computer processing device(s) in order to carry out the method or process steps described. Appropriate computer program code in combination with hardware implements many of the elements of the present invention. This computer code is often stored on storage media. This media can be a diskette, hard disk, CD-ROM, optical storage media, or tape. The media can also be a memory storage device or collection of memory storage devices such as read-only memory (ROM) or random access memory (RAM). Additionally, the computer program code can be transferred to the appropriate hardware over some type of data network.

[0023] The present invention has been described, in part, with reference to flowchart or logic flow diagrams. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart diagrams or logic flow diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart diagrams or logic flow diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions.

[0024] These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks or logic flow diagrams.

[0025] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart blocks or logic flow diagrams. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart blocks or logic flow diagrams.

[0026] Accordingly, block(s) of flowchart diagrams and/or logic flow diagrams support combinations of means for performing the specified functions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that each block of flowchart diagrams and/or logic flow diagrams, and combinations of blocks in flowchart diagrams and/or logic flow diagrams can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computer systems that perform the specified functions or steps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

[0027] In the following claims, any means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents but also equivalent structures. Therefore, it is to be understood that the foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limited to the specific embodiments disclosed, and that modifications to the disclosed embodiments, as well as other embodiments, are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. The invention is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of the claims to be included therein.