Reconstructing 3d surfaces using point clouds derived from overlapping camera images

摘要

An apparatus for reconstructing the surface of a 3D object comprises at least one camera 101a configured to capture a plurality of images of different parts of the object from a plurality of different viewpoints. The camera(s) are configured such that there is overlap between adjacent images. A processor is adapted to:process the captured images and match them such that data derived from the overlap of images is used to form a 3D point cloud 103a of the object. A parameterised 3D surface is fitted to the point cloud, by optimising the parameters of said surface to fit the point cloud. Finally, a reconstruction model 105a of the object from the fitted surface is generated and output. This may be enhanced with texture and colour/shading information from the captured images.