Methods and apparatus for transient light imaging
US8749619B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 29, 2010 |
| Grant date | Jun 10, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 8, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N23/56
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
In illustrative implementations of this invention, multi-path analysis of transient illumination is used to reconstruct scene geometry, even of objects that are occluded from the camera. An ultrafast camera system is used. It comprises a photo-sensor (e.g., accurate in the picosecond range), a pulsed illumination source (e.g. a femtosecond laser) and a processor. The camera emits a very brief light pulse that strikes a surface and bounces. Depending on the path taken, part of the light may return to the camera after one, two, three or more bounces. The photo-sensor captures the returning light bounces in a three-dimensional time image I(x,y,t) for each pixel. The camera takes different angular samples from the same viewpoint, recording a five-dimensional STIR (Space Time Impulse Response). A processor analyzes onset information in the STIR to estimate pairwise distances between patches in the scene, and then employs isometric embedding to estimate patch coordinates.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.