MegaParallax: 360° panoramas with motion parallax

Abstract

Capturing 360° panoramas has become straightforward now that this functionality is implemented on every phone. However, it remains difficult to capture immersive 360° panoramas with motion parallax, which provide different views for different viewpoints. Alternatives such as omnidirectional stereo panoramas provide different views for each eye (binocular disparity), but do not support motion parallax, while Casual 3D Photography [Hedman et al. 2017] reconstructs textured 3D geometry that provides motion parallax but suffers from reconstruction artefacts. We propose a new image-based approach for capturing and rendering high-quality 360° panoramas with motion parallax. We use novel-view synthesis with flow-based blending to turn a standard monoscopic video into an enriched 360° panoramic experience that can be explored in real time. Our approach makes it possible for casual consumers to capture and view high-quality 360° panoramas with motion parallax.