Altia Systems to Demonstrate the First Smartphone-Scale PanaCast Micro Camera Technology With Real-Time Panoramic Video Stitching Using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor

Size comparison: Altia Systems' First Smartphone-Scale PanaCast Micro Camera Technology versus the size of a penny (Photo: Business Wire)

NUREMBERG, Germany--()--Embedded World - Altia Systems - creators of the award-winning PanaCast 2 Panoramic-4K Plug-and-Play USB video camera system, the PanaCast 2s software-defined 7.4 megapixel camera system and the PanaCast 3D 4K VR kit - will demonstrate the PanaCast Computer Vision Engine delivering real-time panoramic video stitching running on the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 820 processor at Embedded World 2017 in Nuremberg, Germany, at the Qualcomm booth #1-328 from March 14 - 16, 2017.

In this system, the PanaCast Computer Vision Engine (PCVE) software - which integrates the company's real-time video stitching IP - runs on the Snapdragon 820 processor by Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and drives the newly-developed PanaCast micro camera module to deliver a 5.5 Megapixel video stream with a ~130° field of view, with 3568 x 1536 pixels per frame, operating at 30 frames per second. The micro camera module consists of two standard 3 Megapixel smartphone cameras operated synchronously, with standard fields of view for each camera.

Conventional smartphone cameras capture 60º - 80º field of view while the typical field of view of human vision is 160º - 180º. The PanaCast micro camera module produces a 5.5 Megapixel video stream with a ~130º field of view without the distortion and other limitations typically associated with ultra-wide-angle or fisheye lens based systems.

Ram Natarajan, CTO of Altia Systems, notes, “The key is to produce panoramic video with as little distortion as possible, and at a high enough resolution to be usable in high-volume and emerging applications. The extended field of view provides a real-time visually immersive experience. We achieved this by stitching together video from multiple smartphone-scale camera modules that have overlapping fields of view. The technology can also integrate real-time sensing for object detection and recognition, when used in conjunction with a database. The technology - with real-time immersive video capability coupled with real-time sensing and designed to support cellular connectivity - is built on a smartphone platform and can be used to develop intelligent vision systems for a variety of applications, including IoT, AR/VR, analytics, machine learning, automotive, UAV, sports/events broadcasting, safety & security, telemedicine, education and entertainment.”

The PCVE is a scalable software architecture that can generate high quality immersive (including 360º) video in real time using multiple cameras and video stitching. PCVE can scale up/down to higher/lower resolutions, depending on the smartphone processor capabilities and application requirements.

The dual ISP pipeline in the Snapdragon 820 processor, combined with the processing power of the Qualcomm® Adreno™ 530 GPU, is designed to support real-time stitching with low power consumption, in a miniaturized form factor scalable for high-volume applications.

The demonstration system is built utilizing eInfochips’ Eragon 820 System-on-Module (SoM). “eInfochips’ Eragon product team implemented Altia Systems’ image synchronization IP and performed image sensor tuning to deliver high-quality video capture in real-time from the micro camera module on the Eragon 820 development board. Eragon 820 System-on-Module provides enhanced graphical resolutions with high-end processing capabilities and low power consumption,” said Parag Mehta, Chief Business Development Officer at eInfochips.

About eInfochips

eInfochips is a product engineering and software R&D services company with over 20 years of experience that has expertise and experience to deliver complex, critical, and connected products across multiple domains, for projects as small as a one-time app development to a complete turnkey product design. With its R&D centers in the USA and India, eInfochips continuously invest and fuel innovations in the areas of Product Engineering, Device Lifecycle Management, IoT & Cloud Frameworks, Intelligent Automation, and Video Management.

About Altia Systems

Altia Systems (getpanacast.com), a venture-backed company based in Cupertino, California, is the creator of the PanaCast camera system and PanaCast Experience real-time interactive software.

Funded by Intel Capital and other leading investors, Altia Systems’ PanaCast products and technology deliver industry-first results in real-time stitching of panoramic video from multi-camera systems, enabling a unique experience in immersive video collaboration.

PanaCast 2 is the world’s first Panoramic-4K Plug-and-Play USB video camera. It delivers a 180° wide field of view which replicates the natural human visual perspective. PanaCast 2s is the first software-defined, real-time 7.4 Megapixel 180° panoramic video camera system. The PanaCast 3D VR Kit is the first system to deliver 180° 3D content with full 4K resolution in real-time, with in-device panoramic stitching.

For more information, visit getpanacast.com.

Follow @PanaCast1 on Twitter® for updates

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., is a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated. Qualcomm, Snapdragon and Adreno are trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated, registered in the United States and other countries.

Qualcomm Snapdragon and Qualcomm Adreno are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Contacts

Altia Systems
Zarina Khan, +1-408-996-9710
Zarina.khan@altiasystems.com
or
Priya Krishnan, +1-408-996-9710
priya.krishnan@altiasystems.com

Release Summary

Altia Systems announces the PanaCast Micro Camera technology built using Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 processor. Altia has achieved real-time video stitching with a multi-camera system on a smartphone.

Contacts

Altia Systems
Zarina Khan, +1-408-996-9710
Zarina.khan@altiasystems.com
or
Priya Krishnan, +1-408-996-9710
priya.krishnan@altiasystems.com