US Patent 9998663 Surround image capture and processing

Systems and methods are provided to perform surround image capture and processing. A camera device may use physical position and orientation sensors to determine the camera device's position along a circular path. The camera device may capture images from positions along the circular path and combine the images into a surround image animation of a central point within the circular path. The camera device may determine feature points within the image frames, and determine a smooth path or track for corresponding feature points to follow from one image to the next. The images can be combined into a smoothly animated 360-degree surround animation, which may be continually rotated without a set beginning or ending point to the animation.