An Improved Quantum Solution for the Stereo Matching Problem

As the most computationally intensive part of a stereo vision system, stereo matching has been the focus of intense research activities for the last four decades. We present the first attempts to compare a quantum stereo matching solution with state-of-the-art approaches on the Middlebury stereo datasets. We first looked at quantum annealing computation as a way to interact with the D-Wave quantum computer and then improved the quantum solution to the stereo matching problem found in the literature. Using a line-by-line approach, we traded accuracy off for the qubits availability in the QPU (Quantum Processor Unit). Our findings show that it is possible to obtain results from real-sized images despite the scarcity of physical qubits in the quantum hardware. While the current quantum solution solves a class P stereo matching problem, its real advantage over classical stereo matching algorithms will arise with NP-hard problems which will be the focus of our future research.