Robust stereo with flash and no-flash image pairs

We propose a new stereo technique using a pair of flash and no-flash stereo images that is both efficient and robust in handling occlusion boundaries. Our work is motivated by the observation that the brightness variations introduced by the flash can provide a robust cue for establishing stereo matches at occlusion boundaries. This photometric cue is computed per pixel, and though on its own is not robust to reliably resolve depth, it can provide a new discriminant to support patch-based stereo matching algorithms. Our experiments using a hand-held Fujifilm W3 3D camera show satisfying stereo performance over a variety of scenes, including several outdoor scenes.