Image-Based Transformation of Viewpoint and . . .

This thesis addresses the problem of synthesizing images of real scenes under three-dimensional transformations in viewpoint and appearance. Solving this problem enables interactive viewing of remote scenes on a computer, in which a user can move a virtual camera through the environment and virtually paint or sculpt objects in the scene. It is demonstrated that a variety of three-dimensional scene transformations can be rendered on a video display device by applying simple transformations to a set of basis images of the scene. The virtue of these transformations is that they operate directly on images and recover only the scene information that is required in order to accomplish the desired effect. Consequently, they are applicable in situations where accurate three-dimensional models are difficult or impossible to obtain. A central topic is the problem of view synthesis, i.e., rendering images of a real scene from different camera viewpoints by processing a set of basis images. Towar..