A computer vision sensor for panoramic depth perception

Abstract. A practical way for obtaining depth in computer vision is the use of structured light systems. For panoramic depth reconstruction several images are needed which most likely implies the construction of a sensor with mobile elements. Moreover, misalignments can appear for non-static scenes. Omnidirectional cameras offer a much wider field of view than the perspective ones, capture a panoramic image at every moment and alleviate the problems due to occlusions. This paper is focused on the idea of combining omnidirectional vision and structured light with the aim to obtain panoramic depth information. The resulting sensor is formed by a single catadioptric camera and an omnidirectional light projector.