System and method of three-dimensional image capture and modeling
View Patent ↗Systems and methods for identifying the contour of an object that is depicted in an image. An object is placed on a rotating turntable and a camera, which is stationary, captures images of the object as it rotates on the turntable. In one pass, the system captures a number of photographic images that will be processed into image silhouettes. After a calibration procedure (used to determine the camera's focal length and the turntable's axis of rotation), a silhouette processing module determines a set of two-dimensional polygon shapes (silhouette contour polygons) that describe the contours of the object by comparing light intensity values in the images of the object with light intensity values from an image of the background without the object.
1. A method for identifying a silhouette contour of an object that is depicted within an a first image, the first image comprised of a plurality of pixels with each pixel containing a light intensity value that describes either the object or a background, the silhouette contour of the object comprised of a group of pixels which describe one contour of the object's shape, the method comprising the steps of:
a. identifying within the first image a set of pixels which describe the object by comparing the light intensity value of the pixels of the first image against the light intensity values of a second image, separate from the first image, which depicts the background but not the object;
b. locating one pixel which does not describe the object;
c. moving sequentially through the light intensity values of the pixels of the first image to locate a first pixel which describes the object, that pixel being a first pixel in a cluster of pixels which describe the object; and
d. identifying from the point of said first pixel those other pixels of the cluster which lie on the perimeter of the cluster.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
capturing the first image of the object in front of the background; and capturing the second image of the background without the object.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the capturing of the second image occurs at a different time than the capturing of the first image.
4. A method for identifying a contour of an object depicted in an a first image, the first image comprised of a plurality of pixels with each pixel containing a light intensity value that describes either the object or a background, the silhouette contour of the object comprised of a group of pixels which describe one contour of the object's shape, the method comprising the steps of:
a. identifying within the first image a set of pixels which describe the object by comparing the light intensity value of the pixels of the first image against the light intensity values of a second image, separate from the first image, which depicts the background but not the object;
b. locating one pixel which does not describe the object; c. moving sequentially through the values of the pixels of the first image to locate a first pixel which describes the object that pixel being a first pixel in a cluster of pixels which describe the object; and
d. identifying from the point of said first pixel those other pixels of the cluster which lie on the perimeter of the cluster.
5. The method of claim 4 further comprising the steps of:
capturing the first image of the object in front of the background; and capturing the second image of the background without the object.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the capturing of the second image occurs at a different time than the capturing of the first image.
7. A method for creating a polygonally shaped silhouette contour of an object depicted in ˜ a first image, the first image comprised of a plurality of pixels with each pixel containing a light intensity value that describes either the object or a background, the polygonally-shaped silhouette contour of the object comprising the vertices of a polygon shape which describe one contour of the object, the method comprising the steps of:
a. identifying within the first image a set of pixels which describe the object by comparing the light intensity value of the pixels of the first image against the light intensity values of a second image, separate from the first image, in which is depicted the background but not the object;
b. locating a first pixel which describes the object that pixel being a pixel on the perimeter of a cluster of pixels which describe the object;
c. identifying from the point of said first pixel those other pixels of the cluster which lie on the perimeter of the cluster;
d. storing a list of those pixels which lie on the perimeter of the cluster; e. selecting from the list of pixels which lie on the perimeter of the cluster a set of pixels such that the edges of a polygon made from those pixels deviates by no more than a predetermined distance epsilon from the set of pixels which make up said perimeter of the cluster; and
f. storing the selected set of pixels as the vertices of the silhouette contour polygon.
8. The method of claim 7 further comprising the steps of:
capturing the first image of the object in front of the background; and capturing the second image of the background without the object.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the capturing of the second image occurs at a different time than the capturing of the first image.
10. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions adapted to be executed by a processor, the instructions which, when executed, define a series of steps for identifying a silhouette contour of an object that is depicted within a first image, the first image comprised of a plurality of pixels with each pixel containing a light intensity value that describes either the object or a background, the silhouette contour of the object comprised of a group of pixels which describe one contour of the object's shape, the steps comprising:
a. identifying within the first image a set of pixels which describe the object by comparing the light intensity value of the pixels of the first image against the light intensity values of a second image, separate from the first image, which depicts the background but not the object;
b. locating one pixel which does not describe the object;
c. moving sequentially through the light intensity values of the pixels of the first image to locate a first pixel which describes the object, that pixel being a first pixel in a cluster of pixels which describe the object; and
d. identifying from the point of said first pixel those other pixels of the cluster which lie on the perimeter of the cluster.
11. The article of manufacture of claim 10 , the steps further comprising:
capturing the first image of the object in front of the background; and
capturing the second image of the background without the object.
12. The article of manufacture of claim 11 wherein the capture of the second image occurs at a different time than the capture of the first image.
13. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions adapted to be executed by a processor, the instructions which, when executed, define a series of steps for identifying a contour of an object depicted in a first image, the first image comprised of a plurality of pixels with each pixel containing a light intensity value that describes either the object or a background, the silhouette contour of the object comprised of a group of pixels which describe one contour of the object's shape, the steps comprising:
a. identifying within the first image a set of pixels which describe the object by comparing the light intensity value of the pixels of the first image against the light intensity values of a second image, separate from the first image, which depicts the background but not the object;
b. locating one pixel which does not describe the object;
c. moving sequentially through the values of the pixels of the first image to locate a first pixel which describes the object that pixel being a first pixel in a cluster of pixels which describe the object; and
d. identifying from the point of said first pixel those other pixels of the cluster which lie on the perimeter of the cluster.
14. The article of manufacture of claim 13 , the steps further comprising:
capturing the first image of the object in front of the background; and
capturing the second image of the background without the object.
15. The article of manufacture of claim 14 wherein the capturing of the second image occurs at a different time than the capturing of the first image.
16. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions adapted to be executed by a processor, the instructions which, when executed, define a series of steps for creating a polygonally shaped silhouette contour of an object depicted in a first image, the first image comprised of a plurality of pixels with each pixel containing a light intensity value that describes either the object or a background, the polygonally-shaped silhouette contour of the object comprising the vertices of a polygon shape which describe one contour of the object, the steps comprising:
a. identifying within the first image a set of pixels which describe the object by comparing the light intensity value of the pixels of the first image against the light intensity values of a second image, separate from the first image, in which is depicted the background but not the object;
b. locating a first pixel which describes the object that pixel being a pixel on the perimeter of a cluster of pixels which describe the object;
c. identifying from the point of said first pixel those other pixels of the cluster which lie on the perimeter of the cluster;
d. storing a list of those pixels which lie on the perimeter of the cluster; and
e. selecting from the list of pixels which lie on the perimeter of the cluster a set of pixels such that the edges of a polygon made from those pixels deviates by no more than a predetermined distance epsilon from the set of pixels which make up said perimeter of the cluster and storing the selected set of pixels as the vertices of the silhouette contour polygon.
17. The article of manufacture of claim 16 , the steps further comprising:
capturing the first image of the object in front of the background and capturing the second image of the background without the object.
18. The article of manufacture of claim 17 wherein the capturing of the second image occurs at a different time than the capturing of the first image.