To recognize whole three-dimensional environments, it is necessary to obtain depth and height information, or three-dimensional information, of a scene. This paper presents an omnidirectional stereo method, which can obtain three-dimensional information simultaneously in all directions. The method first takes a pair of omnidirectional images at different heights using the omnidirectional imaging sensor, HyperOmni Vision, and then detects corresponding points between the pair of images, finally obtaining three-dimensional information simultaneously in all directions. Experimental results show the feasibility of the proposed method with real omnidirectional images. This paper also shows the computation of common horizontal binocular stereo images from a pair of omnidirectional images for virtual reality applications.
