Acquiring 3D Images from LED Room Lighting

 Researchers Acquire 3D Images with LED Room Lighting, Smartphone

Optical Society of America, January 11, 2021

Researchers at the U.K.'s University of Strathclyde used a smartphone and LEDs to perform three-dimensional (3D) optical imaging, without the need for complicated manual processes to sync up the camera and lighting. Strathclyde's Emma Le Francois said, "We wanted to make photometric stereo imaging more easily deployable by removing the link between the light sources and the camera." The Strathclyde team developed algorithms that uniquely modulate each LED, which allow the camera to ascertain which LED produced which image, to enable accurate 3D image reconstruction. The technique also features its own clock signal, so image acquisition can be self-synchronized with the LEDs by using the camera to passively detect the LED clock signal. The researchers used this method to image a 48-millimeter-tall figurine that was 3D-printed with a matte material, realizing an error of just 2.6 millimeters when the object was recorded from a distance of 42 centimeters.