Time-of-flight depth imaging

Abstract

Techniques are provided for determining depth to objects. A depth image may be determined based on two light intensity images. This technique may compensate for differences in reflectivity of objects in the field of view. However, there may be some misalignment between pixels in the two light intensity images. An iterative process may be used to relax a requirement for an exact match between the light intensity images. The iterative process may involve modifying one of the light intensity images based on a smoothed version of a depth image that is generated from the two light intensity images. Then, new values may be determined for the depth image based on the modified image and the other light intensity image. Thus, pixel misalignment between the two light intensity images may be compensated.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to depth imaging, and more particularly to time-of-flight depth imaging. Background technique [0002] Depth camera systems obtain data about the position of a person or other object within physical space. The camera has one or more sensors with pixels that collect light intensity. Depth values ​​can be determined from light intensity. For example, light intensity data from two sensors can be correlated and a depth value for each pixel can be determined. Depth values ​​may be input to applications within the computing system for a variety of applications. There can be many applications such as for military, entertainment, sports and medical purposes. For example, depth values ​​for a person can be mapped to a three-dimensional (3-D) human skeletal model and used to create an animated character or avatar. [0003] To determine depth values, a depth camera may project light onto objects in the camera's field of view. L...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, the aforementioned differences in the two depth measurements can make it difficult to correlate the dep

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