Systems and methods for producing a combined view from fisheye cameras

1. An electronic device, comprising:

a processor configured to:

obtain images from a plurality of cameras;

project each image to a respective 3-dimensional (3D) shape used to model each camera; and

generate a combined view based on the projected images.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to rotate at least one of the 3D shapes to approximately align a corresponding image to a direction.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to rotate at least one of the 3D shapes to compensate for a tilt of a corresponding camera.

4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to project at least a portion of each 3D shape to a common 3D shape enclosing all 3D shapes associated with the cameras.

5. The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to project at least a portion of the common 3D shape to a common plane.

6. The electronic device of claim 5 , wherein the processor is configured to project the common 3D shape from a north pole of the common 3D shape to the common plane, wherein the common plane is approximately parallel to ground.

7. The electronic device of claim 5 , wherein the processor is configured to align the images projected to the common plane.

8. The electronic device of claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to determine whether an alignment error exceeds a predetermined threshold.

9. The electronic device of claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to determine at least one seam between adjacent images and trim the images to produce a combined image.

10. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to project the combined image to a shape.

11. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the cameras are installed in a vehicle and the processor is configured to present the combined view in the vehicle.

12. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the images are wide-angle images and the cameras are wide-angle cameras.

13. A method, comprising:

obtaining images from a plurality of cameras;

projecting each image to a respective 3-dimensional (3D) shape used to model each camera; and

generating a combined view based on the projected images.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

rotating at least one of the 3D shapes to approximately align a corresponding image to a direction.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

rotating at least one of the 3D shapes to compensate for a tilt of a corresponding camera.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

projecting at least a portion of each 3D shape to a common 3D shape enclosing all 3D shapes associated with the cameras.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

projecting at least a portion of the common 3D shape to a common plane.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the common 3D shape is projected from a north pole of the common 3D shape to the common plane, wherein the common plane is approximately parallel to ground.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein generating the combined view comprises aligning the images projected to the common plane.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein generating the combined view comprises:

determining at least one seam between adjacent images; and

trimming the images to produce a combined image.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein generating the combined view comprises projecting the combined image to a shape.

22. The method of claim 20 , wherein the cameras are installed in a vehicle and the combined view is presented in the vehicle.

23. A computer-program product, comprising a non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium having instructions thereon, the instructions comprising:

code for causing an electronic device to obtain images from a plurality of cameras;

code for causing the electronic device to project each image to a respective 3-dimensional (3D) shape used to model each camera; and

code for causing the electronic device to generate a combined view based on the projected images.

24. The computer-program product of claim 23 , further comprising code for causing the electronic device to rotate at least one of the 3D shapes to approximately align a corresponding image to a direction.

25. The computer-program product of claim 23 , further comprising code for causing the electronic device to rotate at least one of the 3D shapes to compensate for a tilt of a corresponding camera.

26. The computer-program product of claim 23 , further comprising code for causing the electronic device to project at least a portion of each 3D shape to a common 3D shape enclosing all 3D shapes associated with the cameras.

27. An apparatus, comprising:

means for obtaining images from a plurality of cameras;

means for projecting each image to a respective 3-dimensional (3D) shape used to model each camera; and

means for generating a combined view based on the projected images.

28. The apparatus of claim 27 , further comprising means for rotating at least one of the 3D shapes to approximately align a corresponding image to a direction.

29. The apparatus of claim 27 , further comprising means for rotating at least one of the 3D shapes to compensate for a tilt of a corresponding camera.

30. The apparatus of claim 27 , further comprising means for projecting at least a portion of each 3D shape to a common 3D shape enclosing all 3D shapes associated with the cameras.