Shape from Unstructured Light

A structured light method for depth reconstruction using unstructured, essentially arbitrary projection patterns is presented. Unlike previous methods, the suggested approach allows the user to select the projection patterns from a given slide show or from movie frames, or to simply project noise, thus extending the range of possible applications. The system includes a projector and a single camera. Two progressive algorithms are developed for obtaining projector-camera correspondence, with each additional projection pattern improving the reliability of the final result. The method is experimentally demonstrated using two projection pattern sets -a vacation photo album and a set of random noise patterns. Confidence measures and a pattern selection algorithm are provided.