Parallax-tolerant panoramic image generation

1. A method, comprising:

obtaining a point cloud captured by a depth sensor, the point cloud representing a support structure bearing a set of objects;

obtaining a set of images of the support structure and the set of objects, the set of images captured by an image sensor from a plurality of positions alongside a length of the support structure;

generating a mesh structure using the point cloud, the mesh structure including a plurality of cells and representing a surface of the support structure and the set of objects;

for each cell in the mesh structure, selecting an image from the set of images and projecting the selected image to the cell; and

generating an orthographic projection of the mesh structure onto a shelf plane of the support structure,

wherein selecting the image comprises:

obtaining 3D coordinates of the cell,

identifying a subset of the images which correspond to the 3D coordinates of the cell, and

selecting the image from the subset of the images.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the image from the subset comprises selecting the image having a largest projection area for a region corresponding to the selected cell.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the image from the subset comprises:

obtaining a first image from the subset;

determining whether the first image includes image artifacts within a region corresponding to the cell;

when the first image includes image artifacts within the region corresponding to the cell, selecting a second image from the subset;

when the first image does not include image artifacts within the region corresponding to the cell, selecting the first image.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying a group of cells corresponding to at least a portion of a surface represented by the selected cell;

wherein selecting the image comprises selecting the image for the group of cells.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein selecting the image comprises:

determining 3D coordinates of each of the cells in the group of cells; and

selecting the image corresponding to a highest proportion of the cells based on the 3D coordinates of the cells.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein projecting the image onto the cell comprises updating the mesh structure to store a portion of the image corresponding to the cell in association with the cell.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mesh structure is optimized for the orthographic projection.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the shelf plane represents a shelf back of the support structure.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the shelf plane includes shelf edges of a set of shelves of the support structure.

10. A computing device comprising:

a memory;

a processor interconnected with the memory, the processor configured to:

obtain a point cloud representing a support structure bearing a set of objects;

obtain a set of images of the support structure and the set of objects, the set of images captured from a plurality of positions alongside a length of the support structure;

generate a mesh structure using the point cloud, the mesh structure including a plurality of cells and representing a surface of the support structure and the set of objects;

for each cell in the mesh structure, select an image from the set of images and project the selected image to the cell; and

generate an orthographic projection of the mesh structure onto a shelf plane of the support structure,

wherein, to select the image, the processor is configured to:

obtain 3D coordinates of the cell,

identify a subset of the images which correspond to the 3D coordinates of the cell, and

select the image from the subset of the images.

11. The computing device of claim 10 , wherein, to select the image from the subset, the processor is configured to select the image having a largest resolution for a region corresponding to the selected cell.

12. The computing device of claim 10 , wherein, to select the image from the subset, the processor is configured to:

obtain a first image from the subset;

determine whether the first image includes image artifacts within a region corresponding to the cell;

when the first image includes image artifacts within the region corresponding to the cell, select a second image from the subset;

when the first image does not include image artifacts within the region corresponding to the cell, select the first image.

13. The computing device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

identify a group of cells corresponding to at least a portion of a surface represented by the selected cell;

wherein select the image comprises selecting the image for the group of cells.

14. The computing device of claim 13 , wherein to select the image, the processor is configured to:

determine 3D coordinates of each of the cells in the group of cells; and

select the image corresponding to a highest proportion of the cells based on the 3D coordinates of the cells.

15. The computing device of claim 10 , wherein to project the image onto the cell, the processor is configured to update the mesh structure to store a portion of the image corresponding to the cell in association with the cell.

16. The computing device of claim 10 , wherein the mesh structure is optimized for the orthographic projection.

17. The computing device of claim 10 , wherein the computing device is a server.

18. The computing device of claim 10 , wherein the computing device is a mobile apparatus.

19. The computing device of claim 18 , wherein the mobile apparatus further comprises:

a depth sensor configured to capture the point cloud; and an image sensor configured to capture the set of images.