Each of the panoramic images corresponding to a plurality of positions of
a viewpoint is compressed and stored as partial images obtained by
dividing each panoramic image by a predetermined field of view. The
panoramic image has a field of view wider than a display field of view of
an image to be displayed on a display unit. A partial image containing an
image to be reproduced is selected based on the information about the
position and the direction of a viewpoint and the display field of view,
and an image corresponding to the position and the direction of a
viewpoint is generated and displayed from the selected partial image.
Thus, when virtual space in the walk-through system is designed using the
IBR technology, stored image data can be efficiently reproduced.