Abstract

We present a new method for structured light 3D scanning called Motion Contrast 3D scanning (MC3D). The key principle behind MC3D is the conversion of spatial projector-camera disparity to temporal events recorded by a motion contrast sensor [1]. The idea of mapping disparity to time has been explored previously in the VLSI community, where several researchers have developed highly customized CMOS sensors with on-pixel circuits that record the time of maximum intensity [2-4]. The use of a motion contrast sensor in a 3D scanning system is similar to these previous approaches with two important differences: 1) The differential logarithmic nature of motion contrast cameras improves performance in the presence of ambient illumination and arbitrary scene reflectance, and 2) motion contrast cameras are currently commercially available while previous techniques required custom VLSI fabrication, limiting access to only the small number of research labs with the requisite expertise.

© 2015 IEEE