Reconstructing Virtual Rooms from Panoramic Images

The capturing of panoramic 360◦ images has become a popular photographic technique. While a complete 360◦ view gives an impressive view of the environment, many people have difficulties to understand the spatial scene arrangement from this flat image. For this reason, we present and discuss various visualizations of panoramic images. Furthermore, we propose an alternative visualization for panoramic images, using a simple 3-D reconstruction of the recording environment. Specifically, we reconstruct the 3-D layout of rectangular rooms from a panoramic image. By projecting the panoramic image onto the walls of this virtual room, the scene can be visualized as a 3-D model. The model can be shown either as a scene overview, or it can be displayed with the virtual camera at the position of the original camera, providing realistic views from within the room.