Approaches to a color scannerless range imaging system

Capturing range data for every pixel within an image has the potential for a wide array of new imaging applications. While there are many approaches to accomplishing this goal, one that has been the subject of current research and advanced development is the so-called scannerless range imaging system (SRI) that is based upon an innovation by M.W. Scott (1990) from Sandia National Laboratories. While the design of the SRI system has many desirable features, one of its limitations has been the inability to capture full color images along with the range data. To overcome this limitation several approaches have been proposed. This paper reviews the fundamental SRI concept, describes the alternative approaches to achieve a color version of the system and the advantages, the technological risks, and the limitations of each approach.