Shape from Shading: A Method for Obtaining the Shape of a Smooth Opaque Object From One View

Abstract

A method will be described for finding the shape of a smooth opaque object from a monocular image, given a knowledge of the surface photometry, the position of the light-source and certain auxiliary information to resolve ambiguities. This method is complementary to the use of stereoscopy which relies on matching up sharp detail and will fail on smooth objects. Until now the image processing of a single views has been restricted to objects which can meaningfully be considered two-dimensional or bounded by plane surfaces.