System and method for three-dimensional video imaging using a single camera

• US 20040114033A1
• Filed: 09/23/2003
• Published: 06/17/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Regents of The University of Minnesota (University of Minnesota)
• Original Assignee: Regents of The University of Minnesota (University of Minnesota)
• Inventors: Poppele, Richard E., Eian, John Nicolas
• Granted Patent: US 7,277,599 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/207 using a single 2D image sensor
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/261 with monoscopic-to-stereoscopic image conversion

Abstract

One aspect of this disclosure relates to a method for recovering the three-dimensional (3D) point geometry of an object from images acquired with a single camera. The present subject matter uses single-camera images, models generalized camera lines-of-sight outside the camera, and uses linkage distances between markers on an object and the modeled lines-of-sight to recover the 3D positions of markers on the object. The linkage distances are used to recover information about the third dimension that would otherwise be lost in single-camera two-dimensional images. Benefits include low-cost, simplicity, and ease of calibration and implementation, and further include the ability to estimate 3D distances and positions as accurately as with a commercially available multi-camera 3D system. Other aspects and embodiments are provided herein.

Claims

1. A method for recording three-dimensional (3D) point geometry of an object using a single camera, comprising:

identifying a number of markers on the object;

for each marker in the number of markers, recording a linkage distance between the marker and at least one other marker;

capturing two-dimensional (2D) image information for the object using a single image capturing device, wherein the 2D image information includes at least some of the number of markers on the object;

modeling non-parallel lines of sight for the image collecting device; and

using the linkage distance, the modeled lines-of-sight, and the captured 2D image information to recover third dimension information for the object.

2. A three-dimensional (3D) video imaging system, comprising:

a single vide camera to capture a two-dimensional image (2D) of an object, wherein the 2D image of the object includes a number of markers;

a memory to store a linkage distance from each of the number of markers to at least one other marker, to store a spatial coordinate of a seeding marker and to store a mathematical model of camera lines-of-sight; and

a processor to process the 2D image and the linkage distance for each of the number of markers to provide 3D information of the object using the mathematical model.