Aligning non-overlapping sequences

This paper shows how two image sequences that have no spatial overlap between their fields of view can be aligned both in time and in space. Such alignment is possible when the two cameras are attached closely together and are moved jointly in space. The common motion induces "similar" changes over time within the two sequences. This correlated temporal behavior, is used to recover the spatial and temporal transformations between the two sequences. The requirement of "consistent appearance" in standard image alignment techniques is therefore replaced by "consistent temporal behavior", which is often easier to satisfy. This approach to alignment can be used not only for aligning non-overlapping sequences, but also for handling other cases that are inherently difficult for standard image alignment techniques. We demonstrate applications of this approach to three real-world problems: (i) alignment of non-overlapping sequences for generating wide-screen movies, (ii) alignment of images (sequences) obtained at significantly different zooms, for surveillance applications, and, (iii) multi-sensor image alignment for multi-sensor fusion.