Three-dimensional object recognition and visualization using integral Imaging

A real-time recognition system of three-dimensional (3D) objects by use of microlens array is presented. The proposed system consists of two subsystems: one is a projection system of a 3D object into an array of two-dimensional (2D) images that have different perspectives of the 3D object and the second is an optical processor to perform the correlation. A 3D object is illuminated by incoherent light and then is projected into two-dimensional array of elemental images by use of microlens array. Use of microlens array allows us to make the system compact. Each elemental image corresponds to a different perspective of the 3D object. The set of elemental images contain information of the 3D object. After an optical incoherent-to-coherent conversion by an optically addressed spatial light modulator, an optical processor is used to perform the correlation between the input and the reference 3D objects. All the processes can be implemented optically for real-time recognition. Experimental and numerical results of the recognition of 3D objects are presented. These results show that the proposed system can recognize the 3D object even when an input object is very similar to the reference.