광공진 현상을 이용한 입체 영상센서 및 신호처리 기법

Abstract

A three-dimensional image capturing device and its signal processing algorithm and apparatus are presented. Three dimensional information is one of emerging differentiators that provides consumers with more realistic and immersive experiences in user interface, game, 3D-virtual reality, and 3D display. It has the depth information of a scene together with conventional color image so that fullinformation of real life that human eyes experience can be captured, recorded and reproduced. 20 Mega-Hertz-switching high speed image shutter device for 3D image capturing and its application to system prototype are presented[1,2]. For 3D image capturing, the system utilizes Time-of-Flight (TOF) principle by means of 20MHz high-speed micro-optical image modulator, so called ‘optical resonator’. The high speed image modulation is obtained using the electro-optic operation of the multi-layer stacked structure having diffractive mirrors and optical resonance cavity which maximizes the magnitude of optical modulation[3,4]. The optical resonator is specially designed and fabricated realizing low resistance-capacitance cell structures having small RC-time constant. The optical shutter is positioned in front of a standard high resolution CMOS image sensor and modulates the IR image reflected from the object to capture a depth image (Figure 1). Suggested novel optical resonator enables capturing of a full HD depth image with depth accuracy of mm-scale, which is the largest depth image resolution among the-state-of-the-arts, which have been limited up to VGA. The 3D camera prototype realizes color/depth concurrent sensing optical architecture to capture 14Mp color and full HD depth images, simultaneously (Figure 2,3). The resulting high definition color/depth image and its capturing device have crucial impact on 3D business eco-system in IT industry especially as 3D image sensing means in the fields of 3D camera, gesture recognition, user interface, and 3D display. This paper presents MEMS-based optical resonator design, fabrication, 3D camera system prototype and signal processing algorithms.