IP Library Granted Patent US 12,400,407
Granted Patent B2
US 12,400,407 · App. 18/225,074 · Granted Aug 26, 2025

Systems and methods for selective image compositing

Inventors: Matthew Thomas (San Francisco, CA); Francisco Avila-Beltran (San Francisco, CA); David Royston Cutts (San Francisco, CA); William Castillo (San Francisco, CA); Giridhar Murali (San Francisco, CA); Brandon Scott (San Francisco, CA); Jeffrey Sommers (San Francisco, CA)
Assignee: Hover Inc.
G06T19/006G06F18/214G06T3/18G06T17/20G06T19/20G06V20/176G06V20/647G06T2219/2024
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,400,407
App. No.
18/225,074
Granted
Aug 26, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

Disclosed are techniques for generating a photorealistic image by augmenting or compositing at least a portion of a physical structure (e.g., a house) depicted in a two-dimensional (2D) image with synthetic image data. Additionally, disclosed are techniques for augmenting the depicted physical structure and applying a scene effect to the synthetic image data to create a photorealistic effect.

Claims (31)

1. A method of generating composite images, comprising:

receiving a two-dimensional (2D) image frame, the 2D image frame including a set of pixels depicting a physical structure captured by an image capture device;

segmenting the set of pixels of the 2D image into one or more subsets of pixels;

identifying, from amongst the one or more subsets of pixels, a subset of pixels to augment with synthetic image data;

receiving metadata of the 2D image frame comprising three-dimensional (3D) orientation information of a geometry associated with the identified subset of pixels, the 3D orientation comprising a surface normal prediction relative to the geometry;

providing synthetic image data based on the metadata; and

displaying the synthetic image data over a corresponding portion of the 2D image frame, according to a position in the 2D image frame of the identified subset of pixels and the metadata.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metadata comprises scene effect information.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the surface normal prediction is provided by extracting two 3D lines from the 2D image frame and computing a cross product of the two 3D lines.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein extracting two 3D lines comprises selecting lines according to the segmenting of the set of pixels.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the two 3D lines are an eave line and a rake line of the physical structure.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein extracting the two 3D lines comprises generating a vanishing point coordinate system.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising warping the synthetic image data according to the 3D orientation information.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the synthetic image data further comprises orienting the synthetic image data according to a pose of the image capture device.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the 2D image frame further comprises extracting one or more lines from the set of pixels of the 2D image frame.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising rectifying the one or more lines relative to a render space.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein surface normal prediction is provided by one or more trained machine-learning models.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein displaying the synthetic image data over the corresponding portion of the 2D image frame comprises performing a boundary fill function using the synthetic image data, wherein the boundary fill function comprises a digital swatch or collection of pixels visually sampling a texture material to fill a close boundary of the subset of pixels.

13. A system, comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memory devices storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving a two-dimensional (2D) image frame and metadata, the 2D image frame including a set of pixels depicting a physical structure captured by an image capture device;

segmenting the set of pixels of the 2D image into one or more subsets of pixels;

identifying, from amongst the one or more subsets of pixels, a subset of pixels to augment with synthetic image data;

receiving metadata of the 2D image frame comprising three-dimensional (3D) orientation information of a geometry associated with the identified subset of pixels, the 3D orientation comprising a surface normal prediction relative to the geometry;

providing synthetic image data based on the metadata; and

displaying the synthetic image data over a corresponding portion of the 2D image frame, according to a position in the 2D image frame of the identified subset of pixels and the metadata.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the metadata comprises scene effect information.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the surface normal prediction is provided by extracting two 3D lines from the 2D image frame and computing a cross product of the two 3D lines, and extracting two 3D lines comprises selecting lines according to the segmenting of the set of pixels.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein providing the synthetic image data further comprises orienting the synthetic image data according to a pose of the image capture device.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein receiving the 2D image frame further comprises extracting one or more lines from the set of pixels of the 2D image frame, and the operations further comprise rectifying the one or more lines relative to a render space.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 25, 2023
From: THOMAS, MATTHEW; AVILA-BELTRAN, FRANCISCO; CUTTS, DAVID ROYSTON; CASTILLO, WILLIAM; MURALI, GIRIDHAR; SCOTT, BRANDON; SOMMERS, JEFFREY
To: HOVER INC.
Reel/Frame 064380/0521 →
Continuity (5)
Continuation 17094311 · Nov 10, 2020
Provisional Application 63070816 · Aug 26, 2020
Provisional Application 62935630 · Nov 14, 2019
Provisional Application 62933939 · Nov 11, 2019
Related Publication 20230377287A1 · Nov 23, 2023
References Cited (47)
US 5937105A · Katayama et al. · 1999 [cited by applicant]
US 5973697A · Berry et al. · 1999 [cited by applicant]
US 6587601B1 · Hsu et al. · 2003 [cited by applicant]
US 6621921B1 · Matsugu et al. · 2003 [cited by applicant]
US 6975334B1 · Barrus · 2005 [cited by examiner]
US 7199793B2 · Oh et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 7218318B2 · Shimazu · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 7728833B2 · Verma et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 7814436B2 · Schrag et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 8040343B2 · Kikuchi et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 8098899B2 · Ohashi · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 8339394B1 · Lininger · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 8350850B2 · Steedly et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 8390617B1 · Reinhardt · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 8466915B1 · Frueh · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 8970579B2 · Muller et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 9098926B2 · Quan et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 9129432B2 · Quan et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20030014224A1 · Guo et al. · 2003 [cited by applicant]
US 20040066454A1 · Otani et al. · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 20040105573A1 · Neumann et al. · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 20040196282A1 · Oh · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 20070110338A1 · Snavely et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 20070237420A1 · Steedly et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 20100166294A1 · Marrion · 2010 [cited by examiner]
US 20100284607A1 · Van Den Hengel et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20150029182A1 · Sun et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150317821A1 · Ding et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150371440A1 · Pirchheim et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20170132835A1 · Halliday · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20180268614A1 · Byers et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20190026958A1 · Gausebeck et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190080467A1 · Hirzer et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20210279811A1 · Waltman et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
WO 2011079241A1 · 2011 [cited by applicant]
WO 2011091552A1 · 2011 [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 17/094,311, “Corrected Notice of Allowability”, filed May 4, 2023, 2 pages. [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 17/094,311, “Final Office Action”, filed Feb. 8, 2023, 31 pages. [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 17/094,311, “Non-Final Office Action”, filed Aug. 31, 2022, 24 pages. [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 17/094,311, “Notice of Allowance”, filed Apr. 19, 2023, 9 pages. [cited by applicant]
CA3157749, “Office Action”, Jun. 20, 2023, 4 pages. [cited by applicant]
PCT/US2020/059809, “International Preliminary Report on Patentability”, May 27, 2022, 11 pages. [cited by applicant]
PCT/US2020/059809, “International Search Report and Written Opinion”, Apr. 13, 2021, 16 pages. [cited by applicant]
PCT/US2020/059809, “Invitation to Pay Additional Fees and, Where Applicable, Protest Fee”, Feb. 23, 2021, 12 pages. [cited by applicant]
CA3157749, “Office Action”, Apr. 10, 2024, 3 pages. [cited by applicant]
EP20819977.8, “Office Action”, Aug. 2, 2024, 6 pages. [cited by applicant]
EP20819977.8, “Office Action”, Oct. 28, 2024, 14 pages. [cited by applicant]