Polydioptric camera design and 3D motion estimation

TitlePolydioptric camera design and 3D motion estimation
Publication TypeConference Papers
Year of Publication2003
AuthorsNeumann J, Fermüller C, Aloimonos Y
Conference Name2003 IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, 2003. Proceedings
Date Published2003/06/18/20
PublisherIEEE
ISBN Number0-7695-1900-8
Keywords3D motion estimation, Algorithm design and analysis, Application software, CAMERAS, Computer vision, Eyes, field-of-view camera, Image motion analysis, image sampling, image sensor, Image sensors, Layout, light ray, Motion estimation, multiperspective camera, optimal camera, optimal image formation, optimal sampling pattern, pinhole principle, polydioptric camera design, ray space, scene independent estimation, space structure analysis, stereo image processing, visual information processing
Abstract

Most cameras used in computer vision applications are still based on the pinhole principle inspired by our own eyes. It has been found though that this is not necessarily the optimal image formation principle for processing visual information using a machine. We describe how to find the optimal camera for 3D motion estimation by analyzing the structure of the space formed by the light rays passing through a volume of space. Every camera corresponds to a sampling pattern in light ray space, thus the question of camera design can be rephrased as finding the optimal sampling pattern with regard to a given task. This framework suggests that large field-of-view multi-perspective (polydioptric) cameras are the optimal image sensors for 3D motion estimation. We conclude by proposing design principles for polydioptric cameras and describe an algorithm for such a camera that estimates its 3D motion in a scene independent and robust manner.

DOI10.1109/CVPR.2003.1211483