Interactive guest image capture using video wall/floor/ceiling displays for selections of background scenes, and selection/distribution of customized souvenir portfolios including merged images/sound
Systems and methods for creating and distributing professional quality pictorial souvenirs giving the illusion that guests of a facility were imaged at other locations, including making initial arrangements with guests, showing selections of background scene images at video displays and flashing chrome key images interspersed with frames of the scene images, taking key guest images in synch with the flashed key images, extracting guest image content from the key guest images and merging into selecting scene images, showing preview merges images for guest selection and providing souvenir portfolios that include merged images to guests or designees after making financial arrangements, including for payment to third parties for copyright content included in the souvenirs and with advertisers for promotional material included in the souvenirs.
1. A method comprising:
flashing at different times chroma key images and background scene images at a video display surface where one or more guests pose for imaging;
using one or more cameras to take key guest images of said one or more guests when said video display surface shows said chroma key images;
computer-processing the key guest images with a computer system;
computer-merging the processed key guest images into the background scene images with a computer system to form merged images; and
assembling customized souvenir portfolios that include at least some of the merged images.
2. The method of claim 1 in which said taking of said key guest images comprises taking plural key guest images of the same one or more guests, each of said plural key guest images of the same one or more guests being taken while the video display surface is showing respective different chroma key images.
3. The method of claim 2 in which said image processing comprises comparing said plural key guest images with each other or with the respective different chroma key images and selecting for merging a key guest image that meets selected image quality criteria.
4. The method of claim 3 in which said image quality criteria include differences in color content between said plural key guest images and said respective different chroma key images.
5. The method of claim 1 in which said taking of said key guest images comprises concurrently taking each of at least some of said key guest images with the one or more cameras having respective different perspectives.
6. The method of claim 1 in which said computer-merging comprises merging said key guest images into the background scene images that comprise video clips.
7. The method of claim 6 in which said video clips include video that zooms in and/or out relative to the key guest images.
8. The method of claim 1 in which said computer-processing comprises using pattern recognition to generate a metric related to a number of people in respective images of said key guest images, and charging for the customized souvenir portfolios by adjusting charges in relation to said metric.
9. The method of claim 1 comprising including at least a part of the video display surface in a floor supporting said one or more guests.
10. The method of claim 1 comprising including in the video display surface at least two walls surrounding said one or more guests.
11. The method of claim 1 in which said flashing comprises projecting at least some of said background scene images on said video display surface.
12. The method of claim 1 in which said flashing comprises showing at least some of said background scene images on one or more electronic screens comprising said video display surface.
13. The method of claim 1 including interacting with at least some of said one or more guests via smartphones to obtain guest information and supplying the obtained information to said computer system to associate with respective souvenir portfolios.
14. The method of claim 1 , in which said flashing of said chroma key images and said background scene images comprises flashing said chroma key images and said background scene images on a projection video screen.
15. The method of claim 1 , in which said flashing of said chroma key images and said background scene images comprises flashing said chroma key images and said background scene images on a front projection video screen.
16. The method of claim 1 , in which said flashing of said chroma key images and said background scene images comprises flashing said chroma key images and said background scene images on a back projection video screen.
17. The method of claim 1 , in which said flashing of said chroma key images and said background scene images comprises flashing said chroma key images and said background scene images on a liquid crystal display (LCD) video screen.
18. The method of claim 1 , in which said flashing of said chroma key images comprises flashing green images on some occasions but blue images on different occasions.
19. The method of claim 1 , in which said assembling of said customized souvenir portfolios further comprises including in said customized souvenir portfolios other material selected from a group of promotional material, advertisements, and sound.
20. The method of claim 1 , in which said computer-merging comprises forming the merged images in a form of multi-frame video clips.
21. An automated system comprising:
a guest facility that comprises a video display surface serving as background for taking images of guests and an automated camera system configured to take the images;
a source of background scene images and of chroma key images;
a system control computer configured to direct said source to supply the chroma key images and background scene images to the video display surface and to direct the video display surface to display the supplied chroma key images and background scene images at respective different times;
the system control computer being further configured to direct the camera system to take one or more images of said guests while the video display surface is displaying one or more of said supplied chroma key images, thereby producing one or more key guest images; and
an image processing computer configured to receive and process said one or more key guest images, and to merge the resulting processed key guest images with selected images of said supplied background scene images, thereby forming merged images of guests inserted into selected background scene images.
22. The system of claim of claim 21 further including a payment and delivery computer system configured to respond to guest orders for said merged images and charges for delivering the ordered merged images to said guests.
23. The system of claim of claim 21 in which the video display surface includes a video floor configured to support said guests and display said supplied chroma key images and background scene images.
24. The system of claim 21 in which said video display surface comprises plural walls surrounding a location at which said key guest images are taken and configured to display said supplied chroma key images and background scene images.
25. The system of claim 21 in which the system control computer is configured to direct the video display surface to display at different times chroma key images that differ in color from each other while the camera system is taking said one or more key guest images.
26. The system of claim 25 in which the image processing computer is further configured to compare qualities of said one or more key guest images taken in association with the chroma key images that differ in color and to select for merging key guest images meeting selected quality criteria.
27. The system of claim 21 in which said image processing computer is configured to merge said one or more key guest images into said supplied background scene images that comprise video clips.
28. The system of claim 21 in which said image processing computer is configured to merge said one or more key guest images into said supplied background scene images that are video cups zooming in and/or out relative to said one or more key guest images, thereby forming merged video cups giving an illusion of background scenes that zoom in and/or out relative to the guests.
29. The system of claim 21 , in which said video display surface comprises a projection video screen.
30. The system of claim 21 , in which said video display surface comprises a back projection video screen.
31. The system of claim 21 , in which said video display surface comprises a front projection video screen.
32. The system of claim 21 , in which said video display surface comprises a liquid crystal display (LCD) video screen.
33. The system of claim 21 , in which said source of chroma key images provides green and blue chroma key images of which only one of said green and blue chroma key images is displayed at said video display surface at one time.
34. The system of claim 21 , in which said image processing computer is further configured to associate said merged guest images with other material selected from a group of promotional material, advertisements, and sound.
35. The system of claim 21 , in which said merged guest images comprise multi-frame video clips.