Overview of Underwater 3D Reconstruction Technology Based on Optical Images

TLDR

3D reconstruction technology is increasingly applied to underwater scenes, becoming a key research area for ocean exploration, with optical image methods dominating due to advances in computer vision. This paper surveys optical image 3D reconstruction techniques for underwater environments, also reviewing acoustic and optical–acoustic fusion approaches and outlining future research directions. The study employs Citespace to map literature hotspots, discusses underwater‑specific challenges such as image degradation and camera calibration, and classifies existing optical, acoustic, and fusion reconstruction solutions.

Abstract

At present, 3D reconstruction technology is being gradually applied to underwater scenes and has become a hot research direction that is vital to human ocean exploration and development. Due to the rapid development of computer vision in recent years, optical image 3D reconstruction has become the mainstream method. Therefore, this paper focuses on optical image 3D reconstruction methods in the underwater environment. However, due to the wide application of sonar in underwater 3D reconstruction, this paper also introduces and summarizes the underwater 3D reconstruction based on acoustic image and optical–acoustic image fusion methods. First, this paper uses the Citespace software to visually analyze the existing literature of underwater images and intuitively analyze the hotspots and key research directions in this field. Second, the particularity of underwater environments compared with conventional systems is introduced. Two scientific problems are emphasized by engineering problems encountered in optical image reconstruction: underwater image degradation and the calibration of underwater cameras. Then, in the main part of this paper, we focus on the underwater 3D reconstruction methods based on optical images, acoustic images and optical–acoustic image fusion, reviewing the literature and classifying the existing solutions. Finally, potential advancements in this field in the future are considered.