Epipolar Geometry for Central Catadioptric Cameras

Central catadioptric cameras are cameras which combine lenses and mirrors to capture a very wide field of view with a central projection. In this paper we extend the classical epipolar geometry of perspective cameras to all central catadioptric cameras. Epipolar geometry is formulated as the geometry of corresponding rays in a three-dimensional space. Using the model of image formation of central catadioptric cameras, the constraint on corresponding image points is then derived. It is shown that the corresponding points lie on epipolar conics. In addition, the shape of the conics for all types of central catadioptric cameras is classified. Finally, the theory is verified by experiments with real central catadioptric cameras.