Interactive Displays: Natural Human-Interface Technologies

Chapter 5Real-Time 3D Sensing With Structured Light Techniques

Tyler Bell, Nikolaus Karpinsky and Song Zhang

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

5.1 Introduction

With recent advancements of 3D computational methods, sensing dynamic 3D scenes in real time has become vital in numerous areas (e.g., manufacturing, medical sciences, computer sciences, homeland security, entertainment). Three-dimensional sensors have also started to become a common tool used to interact with 3D content on displays; Microsoft Kinect is a good example.

3D sensing technologies have been improving over the past few decades, with improvements accelerating in recent years. Numerous techniques have been developed, including time-of-flight, stereovision, space-time stereovision, structured light, digital holography, and digital fringe projection. Each technology has been developed to meet a certain need and works extremely well for its specialized application, but there is no single technology that can conquer the vast requirements of 3D sensing in general. Zhang (2013) [1] edited a handbook that collected the major 3D sensing technologies, which provides a source for engineers to use such that they may select the proper technology to adopt for their specific needs.

Structured light methods have the potential to be one of the most important 3D sensing technologies for both scientific research and industrial practices, mainly because of the rapid advancement of digital ...