Advances in three-dimensional integral imaging: sensing, display, and applications [Invited]

TLDR

Three‑dimensional sensing and imaging technologies, particularly integral imaging, have been extensively studied for entertainment, medicine, robotics, manufacturing, and security, offering true 3D color displays with full parallax using incoherent light and avoiding speckle, and have recently experienced renewed interest and extensive literature. This review surveys the physical principles and applications of integral imaging. The review covers various capture configurations, reconstruction and display techniques, and applications such as underwater imaging, photon‑starved imaging, occluded‑object tracking, optical microscopy, and polarimetric imaging.

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) sensing and imaging technologies have been extensively researched for many applications in the fields of entertainment, medicine, robotics, manufacturing, industrial inspection, security, surveillance, and defense due to their diverse and significant benefits. Integral imaging is a passive multiperspective imaging technique, which records multiple two-dimensional images of a scene from different perspectives. Unlike holography, it can capture a scene such as outdoor events with incoherent or ambient light. Integral imaging can display a true 3D color image with full parallax and continuous viewing angles by incoherent light; thus it does not suffer from speckle degradation. Because of its unique properties, integral imaging has been revived over the past decade or so as a promising approach for massive 3D commercialization. A series of key articles on this topic have appeared in the OSA journals, including Applied Optics. Thus, it is fitting that this Commemorative Review presents an overview of literature on physical principles and applications of integral imaging. Several data capture configurations, reconstruction, and display methods are overviewed. In addition, applications including 3D underwater imaging, 3D imaging in photon-starved environments, 3D tracking of occluded objects, 3D optical microscopy, and 3D polarimetric imaging are reviewed.