Computer vision researchers have been frustrated in their attempts to
automatically derive depth information from conventional two-dimensional
intensity images. Research on "shape from texture", "shape from
shading", and "shape from focus" is still in a laboratory stage and had
not seen much use in commercial machine vision systems. A range image or
a depth map contains explicit information about the distance from the
sensor to the object surfaces within the field of view in the scene.
Information about "surface geometry" which is important for, say,
three-dimensional object recognition is more easily extracted from "2
1/2 D" range images than from "2D" intensity images. As a result, both
active sensors such as laser range finders and passive techniques such
as multi-camera stereo vision are being increasingly utilized by vision
researchers to solve a variety of problems. This book contains chapters
written by distinguished computer vision researchers covering the
following areas: Overview of 3D Vision Range Sensing Geometric
Processing Object Recognition Navigation Inspection Multisensor Fusion A
workshop report, written by the editors, also appears in the book. It
summarizes the state of the art and proposes future research directions
in range image sensing, processing, interpretation, and applications.
The book also contains an extensive, up-to-date bibliography on the
above topics. This book provides a unique perspective on the problem of
three-dimensional sensing and processing; it is the only comprehensive
collection of papers devoted to range images. Both academic researchers
interested in research issues in 3D vision and industrial engineers in
search of solutions to particular problems will find this a useful
reference book.
