METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR RECEIVING CONTENT AND/OR PLAYING BACK CONTENT
Content delivery and playback methods and apparatus are described. The methods and apparatus are well suited for delivery and playback of content corresponding to a 360 degree environment and can be used to support streaming and/or real time delivery of 3D content corresponding to an event, e.g., while the event is ongoing or after the event is over. Portions of the environment are captured by cameras located at different positions. The content captured from different locations is encoded and made available for delivery. A playback device selects the content to be received based in a user's head position.
1 . A method of operating a content playback system, the method comprising:
determining a head position of a viewer, said head position corresponding to a current field of view;
receiving a first content steam providing content corresponding to a first portion of an environment;
generating one or more output images corresponding to the current field of view based on at least some received content included in said first content stream and i) stored content corresponding to a second portion of said environment or ii) a synthetic image simulating a second portion of said environment; and
outputting or displaying a first output image, said first output image being one of the one or more generated output images.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said content playback system is a content playback device.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said content playback system is a computer system coupled to a display.
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a first image corresponding to said second portion of said environment; and
storing said first image corresponding to said second portion of said environment.
5 . The method of claim 4 ,
wherein said first image of said second portion of said environment corresponds to a first point in time; and
wherein generating one or more output images corresponding to the current field of view includes combining content obtained from said first content stream captured at a second point in time with said first image corresponding to said first point in time, said first and second points in time being different.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein said first point in time corresponds to a time preceding said second point in time.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein said first point in time precedes the time of a live event during which images included in said first content stream are captured.
8 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
receiving one or more additional images corresponding said second portion of said environment, said one or more additional images corresponding said second portion of said environment including at least a second image.
9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving control information indicating which of a plurality of previously communicated images corresponding to said second portion of said environment should be displayed during a playback time as measured with respect to playback times indicated in said first content stream.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein said second portion of said environment is one of a first rear view portion, a second rear view portion, a sky view portion or a ground view portion.
11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving one or more images corresponding to a third portion of said environment.
12 . The method of claim 11 ,
wherein said first portion of said environment is a front view portion;
wherein said third portion is one of a sky view or ground view portion; and
wherein images are received at different rates corresponding to said first, second and third portions, more images being received for an event corresponding to said first portion than for said second portion.
13 . The method of claim 12 ,
wherein said content corresponding to said first portion includes real time content captured and streamed to said playback device while an event was ongoing; and
wherein said content corresponding to said images corresponding to said second and third portions are non-real time images.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said first image content is stereoscopic image content including a left eye image and a right eye image.
15 . A content playback system comprising:
a viewer head position determination module configured to determine a head position of a viewer, said head position corresponding to a current field of view;
a content stream receive module configured to receive a first content steam providing content corresponding to a first portion of an environment;
an output image content stream based generation module configured to generate one or more output images corresponding to the current field of view based on at least some received content included in said first content stream and i) stored content corresponding to a second portion of said environment or ii) a synthetic image simulating a second portion of said environment; and
at least one of: an output module configured to output a first output image or a display module configured to display a first output image, said first output image being one or the one or more generated output images.
16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein said content playback system is a content playback device.
17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein said content playback system is a computer system coupled to a display.
18 . The system of claim 15 , further comprising:
a image receive module configured to receive a first image corresponding to said second portion of said environment; and
a received image storage module configured to store said first image corresponding to said second portion of said environment.
19 . The system of claim 20 ,
wherein said first image of said second portion of said environment corresponds to a first point in time; and
wherein said output image content stream based generation module is configured to combine content obtained from said first content stream captured at a second point in time with said first image corresponding to said first point in time, said first and second points in time being different.
20 . A non-transitory machine readable medium including processor executable instructions which when executed by a processor of a content playback system, control the system to perform the steps of:
determining a head position of a viewer, said head position corresponding to a current field of view;
receiving a first content steam providing content corresponding to a first portion of an environment;
generating one or more output images corresponding to the current field of view based on at least some received content included in said first content stream and i) stored content corresponding to a second portion of said environment or ii) a synthetic image simulating a second portion of said environment; and
outputting or displaying a first output image, said first output image being one of the one or more generated output images.