Scene distance measurement method based on light field imaging

Because a light field camera first takes an image and then refocuses it, we propose a scene distance measurement method based on light field imaging spatial refocusing principles, which was used to generate sequences of refocused images from raw spatial scene images taken by a Lytro1 light field camera. We selected the window of the object whose scene distance needed to be measured, used image-resolution evaluation functions to choose one of the clearest images among the refocused image sequences, and employed Gaussian formula to deduce the scene distance measurement formula. Finally, we used the scene distance measurement method to measure an object on the scene and theoretically analyzed its measurement range and accuracy. The experimental results showed that this scene distance measurement method provides the scene distance information. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America