RAY MAPPING

1 . A method of generating a ray map for a first camera, including the steps of:

obtaining a digital image with the camera, the digital image;

obtaining camera position information of the firs camera;

determining for a plurality of pixels in the digital image a direction vector based on the camera position information and region information, the ray map including the direction vector and the region information.

2 . A method of associating a plurality of rays with a point in a region, the method comprising the steps of:

for each of a plurality of images of the region

(a) obtaining camera position information for the camera taking the image; and

(b) determining for a plurality of pixels in the digital image a direction vector based on the camera position information and region information, the region information including an intensity

determining intersecting direction vectors from multiple images which intersect at the point; and

associating the intersecting direction vectors with the point.

3 . A method of generating a virtual image of a region for a first position, the method comprising the steps of:

determining a ray map associated with the region including a plurality of rays, each ray including region information;

determining a subset of the plurality of rays which are viewable from the first position;

assigning the region information for each ray of the subset of plurality of rays to a corresponding location in the virtual image; and

determining the region information for a remainder of the virtual image, the remainder of the virtual image corresponding to points in the region for which a known ray is not viewable from the first position.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the step of determining the region information for the remainder of the virtual image includes the step of assigning for each point in the remainder of the virtual image the region information of a ray associated with the point which is the nearest to being viewable from the first position.

5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the step of determining the region information for the remainder of the virtual image includes the step of assigning for each point in the remainder of the virtual image a region information determined by a weighted average of a plurality of rays associated with the point.

6 . A computer readable medium including instructions to generate a virtual image of a region for a first position, comprising:

instructions to determine a ray map associated with the region including a plurality of rays, each ray including region information;

instructions to determine a subset of the plurality of rays which are viewable from the first position;

instructions to assign the region information for each ray of the subset of plurality of rays to a corresponding location in the virtual image; and

instructions to determine the region information for a remainder of the virtual image, the remainder of the virtual image corresponding to points in the region for which a known ray is not viewable from the first position.

7 . The computer readable medium of claim 6 , wherein the instructions to determine the region information for the remainder of the virtual image includes instructions to assign for each point in the remainder of the virtual image the region information of a ray associated with the point which is the nearest to being viewable from the first position.

8 . The computer readable medium of claim 6 , wherein the instructions to determine the region information for the remainder of the virtual image includes instructions to assign for each point in the remainder of the virtual image a region information determined by a weighted average of a plurality of rays associated with the point.