Rapid shape acquisition for face recognition using the absolutely coded pattern

The paper presents a rapid shape acquisition system for face recognition. For face recognition, time efficiency is very important. So we focus on acquiring rough face data rapidly. The system is composed of two cameras and one projector. The technique works by projecting a pattern on the object and capturing two images with two cameras. We use a 'one shot' system which provides 3D data acquired by a single image per camera. The system is good for rapid data acquisition. We use the 'absolutely coded pattern' using the hue and saturation of pattern lines. In this 'absolutely coded pattern', all patterns have absolute identification numbers. We solve the correspondence problem between the two images by using epipolar geometry and absolute identification numbers. In comparison to the 'relatively coded pattern' which uses relative identification numbers, the 'absolutely coded pattern' helps obtain rapid 3D data by one to one point matching on an epipolar line. Because we use two cameras, we obtain two images which have similar hue and saturation. This enables us to have the same absolute identification numbers in both images, and we can use the absolutely coded pattern for solving the correspondence problem. The proposed technique is applied to face data and the total time for shape acquisition is estimated.