3D single-pixel video

Photometric stereo is an established three-dimensional (3D) imaging technique for estimating surface shape and reflectivity using multiple images of a scene taken from the same viewpoint but subject to different illumination directions. Importantly, this technique requires the scene to remain static during image acquisition otherwise pixel-matching errors can introduce significant errors in the reconstructed image. In this work, we demonstrate a modified photometric stereo system with perfect pixel-registration, capable of reconstructing 3D images of scenes exhibiting dynamic behavior in real-time. Performing high-speed structured illumination of a scene and sensing the reflected light with four spatially-separated, single-pixel detectors, our system reconstructs continuous real-time 3D video at ~8 frames per second for image resolutions of 64 × 64 pixels. Moreover, since this approach does not use a pixelated camera sensor, it can be readily extended to other wavelengths, such as the infrared, where camera technology is expensive.