System and method for enhancing three-dimensional (3D) depth acquisition

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

capturing an image for each flash unit of an electronic device, each image being illuminated during the capturing of the image;

obtaining a normalized image from one or more of the illuminated images;

using an illumination-based optimization framework to generate an enhanced three-dimensional (3D) depth image, the illumination-based optimization framework being based on the one or more of the illuminated images, wherein the illumination-based optimization framework incorporates the normalized image and 3D depth data associated with the image into the generation of the enhanced 3D depth image;

generating an enhanced 3D depth field as part of the illumination-based optimization framework, the enhanced 3D depth field being generated based on the normalized image and the 3D depth data, wherein each pixel in the normalized image includes an orientation estimation of a surface point corresponding to the pixel in the image;

determining whether more than a predetermined number of flash units were utilized for illumination of each image during the capturing of each image for each flash unit; and

when more than the predetermined number of flash units were utilized for illumination of each image during the capturing of each image for each flash unit, using a pseudo-inverse processing technique to obtain the normal image.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether ambient light associated with the image exceeds an illumination threshold.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , further comprising:

when the ambient light exceeds the illumination threshold, capturing an ambient image without an illumination provided by the flash unit; and

using the ambient image to generate the enhanced 3D depth image.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , further comprising:

determining whether the stabilization of each image is required by the electronic device.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , further comprising:

when a stabilization of each image is required by the electronic device, using a sequence of images captured by the electronic device to stabilize each image of the sequence of images.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , further comprising:

determining whether warping of the 3D depth data is required by the electronic device.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , further comprising:

when warping of the 3D depth data is required by the electronic device, warping the 3D depth data to align with the one or more of the illuminated images.

8. A system, comprising;

a processor; and

a memory in communication with the processor for storing instructions, which when executed by the processor causes the system to:

capture an image for each flash unit of an electronic device, each image being illuminated during the capturing of the image;

obtain a normalized image from a sequence of illuminated images; and

use an illumination-based optimization framework to generate an enhanced three-dimensional (3D) depth image, the illumination-based optimization framework being based on the illuminated image, wherein the illumination-based optimization framework incorporates the normalized image and 3D depth data associated with the image into the generation of the enhanced 3D depth image and

wherein an enhanced 3D depth field is generated as part of the illumination-based optimization framework, the enhanced 3D depth field being based on the normalized image and the 3D depth data and

wherein each pixel in the normalized image includes an orientation estimation of a surface point corresponding to the pixel in the image and

wherein based upon a determination by the system of whether more than a predetermined number of flash units were utilized for illumination purposes during the capture of each image for each flash unit, a pseudo-inverse processing technique is used to obtain the normal image.