Shape determination from intensity images-a new algorithm

A novel algorithm for the determination of surface shapes from intensity measurements is presented. The proposed model allows the estimation of the normals at any point on the surface and of the depth at any point in the image plane along the viewer (camera) direction. Simple shape descriptors for characterizing most developable surfaces are derived. It is shown that the principal curvatures of the surface are simply eigenvalues of the restriction of the shape matrix to the tangent space. The proposed algorithm allows incorporation of prior information obtained from stereopsis and other vision processes. Tests with intensity images have shown the algorithm to be convergent, robust, and accurate