Stereo-based Image and Video Analysis for Multimedia Applications

In this paper we utilize stereo images and video frames of real scenes to automatically generate artistic stereoscopic views with a hand-painted appearance (“painterly rendering”). The approach is motivated by contemporary artists who painted stereo image pairs on canvases. Although a variety of monoscopic painterly rendering algorithms have been proposed in the literature, the design of painterly rendering algorithms suited to stereo views of real scenes presents a largely unexplored field. In our approach, we use stereo analysis to generate a disparity map which is then employed by the stereoscopic rendering algorithm to preserve coherence between the brush strokes of the two stereo views. The painting of the occluded regions is incorporated as a separate step into the rendering procedure. We utilize the disparity map to prevent paint spilling between surfaces located at different depths. Stereoscopic viewing of the stereo paintings produced by our algorithm demonstrates that the aesthetic impression resulting from the hand-painted appearance of the individual images has been enhanced with an additional perception of depth. * Corresponding author