Depth Camera Using High-Transmittance Off-Axis Dual Electro-Optical Irises

A depth camera prototype with high-transmittance off-axis dual electro-optical (DEO) irises is proposed. Our DEO irises are switchable through the polymer dispersed liquid crystal, and exhibit the advantages of low cost, easy fabrication, and higher transmittance compared to the traditional liquid crystal shutters. The transmittance of our device is near 75% when the driving voltage reaches about 30 V. The principle of depth measurement of our system is based on a pair of stereo images, which are captured through the left and right irises, respectively. The depth is calculated from the shifts of features between the two images. The DEO iris design, fabrication process, and depth camera prototype are demonstrated, and experimental results using our depth camera verify reliable performance for the depth measurement. Our DEO iris system therefore provides potential applications in depth sensing.