As a biologically inspired guess, we consider two stereo information channels. One is the traditional channel that works on the basis of the horizontal disparity between the left and right projections of single points in the 3D scene; this channel carries information regarding the absolute depth of the point. The second channel works on the basis of the projections of pairs of points in the 3D scene and carries information regarding the relative depth of the points; equivalently, for a given azimuth disparity of the points, the channel carries information of the ratio of the orientations of the left and right projections of the line segment between the pair of points.
A method for image stitching is presented. The approach focuses on images with parallax (depth variation) to create panoramic views with high fidelity. The approach creates the stitching seam at a virtual depth to convert hard stitching problems to simple ones. The virtual depth is created by applying local distortions to the input images at the stitching seam so that the contents visually appear to be located at the same depth. The presented approach targets a wide variety of applications that require generating high (or super) resolution, wide-view images. These applications include tele-presence (or tele-reality) applications such as shopping, touring, conferencing, planning or architecting, learning, inspection, and surveillance. Our results show that the proposed approach provides promising results compared to commercial products that rely on stitching solutions.