Shape from polarization: a method for solving zenithal angle ambiguity

Abstract

We report a multispectral based method that permits the evolution of shape from polarization setup applied to 3D shape estimation of transparent objects. The setup is based on a polarization imaging technique which is a recent imaging method based on the analysis of the polarization state of the light in the observed scene. The technique has rapidly evolved with the development of electro-optic components and some polarization cameras are now available on the market. Shape from polarization consists in measuring the azimuthal and zenithal angles characterizing the normal of each point of the observed surface. We focus on the ambiguity in the measurement of the zenithal angle and propose a general multispectral approach for estimating the appropriate value of this angle.