A compact image-capturing system called TOMBO (an acronym for thin observation module by bound optics) is presented in which the compound-eye imaging system is utilized to achieve a thin optical configuration. The captured multiple images are processed to retrieve the image of the target object. For image retrieval, two kinds of processing method are considered: image sampling and backprojection. Computer simulations and preliminary experiments were executed on an evaluation system to verify the principles of the system and to clarify the issues related to its implementation.

We propose a method for measuring surface shapes of transparent objects by using a polarizing lter. Generally, the light re ected from an object is partially polarized. The degree of polarization depends upon the incident angle which, in turn, depends upon the surface normal. Therefore, we can obtain surface normals of objects by observing the degree of polarization at each surface point. Unfortunately, the correspondence between the degree of polarization and the surface normal is not one to one. Hence, to obtain the correct surface normal, we h a ve to solve the ambiguity problem. In this paper, we i n troduce a m e t h o d t o s o l v e the ambiguity b y comparing the polarization data in two objects, i.e., normal position and tilted with small angle position. We also discuss the geometrical features of the object surface and propose a method for matching two sets of polarization data at identical points on the object surface.

Techniques for modeling an object through observation are very important in object recognition and virtual reality. A wide variety of techniques have been developed for modeling objects with opaque surfaces, whereas less attention has been paid to objects with transparent surfaces. A transparent surface has only surface reflection; it has little body reflection. We present a new method for obtaining surface orientations of transparent surfaces through analysis of the degree of polarization in surface reflection and emission in visible and far-infrared wavelengths, respectively. This parameter, the polarization degree of reflected light at the visible wavelengths, is used for determining the surface orientation at a surface point. The polarization degree at visible wavelengths provides two possible solutions, and the proposed method uses the polarization degree at far-infrared wavelengths to resolve this ambiguity.

The authors have proposed an architecture for a compact image-capturing system called TOMBO (thin observation module by bound optics), which uses compound-eye imaging for a compact hardware configuration [Appl. Opt. 40, 1806 (2001)]. The captured compound image is decomposed into a set of unit images, then the pixels in the unit images are processed with digital processing to retrieve the target image. A new method for high-resolution image reconstruction, called a pixel rearrange method, is proposed. The relation between the target object and the captured signals is estimated and utilized to rearrange the original pixel information. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed method. In the experimental TOMBO system, the resolution obtained is four times higher than that of the unit image that did not undergo reconstruction processing.

One of the necessary techniques for constructing a virtual museum is to estimate the surface normal and the albedo of the artwork which has high specularity. In this paper, we propose a novel photometric stereo method which is robust to the specular reflection of the object surface. Our method can also digitize the artwork arranged inside a glass or acrylic display case without bringing the artwork out of the display case. Our method treats the specular reflection at the object surface or at the display case as an outlier, and finds a good surface normal evading the influence of the outliers. We judiciously design the cost function so that the outlier will be automatically removed under the assumption that the object's shape and color are smooth. At the end of this paper, we also show some archived 3D data of Segonko Tumulus and objects in the University Museum at The University of Tokyo that were generated by applying the proposed method.

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The photorefractive effect in photoconductive ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLCs) that contain photoconductive chiral compounds was investigated. Terthiophene compounds with chiral structure were chosen as the photoconductive chiral compounds and mixed with an achiral smectic C liquid crystal. The mixture exhibited the ferroelectric chiral smectic C phase and photoconductivity. The photorefractivity of the mixture was investigated by two-beam coupling experiment. It was found that the FLC containing the photoconductive chiral compound exhibits a large gain coefficient of over 800 cm−1 and a fast response time of 8 ms. The high photorefractive performance was considered to be due to enhanced charge mobility.

Few methods have been proposed to measure three-dimensional shapes of transparent objects such as those made of glass and acrylic. In this paper, we propose a novel method for estimating the surface shapes of transparent objects by analyzing the polarization state of the light. Existing methods do not fully consider the reflection, refraction, and transmission of the light occurring inside a transparent object. We employ a polarization raytracing method to compute both the path of the light and its polarization state. Polarization raytracing is a combination of conventional raytracing, which calculates the trajectory of light rays, and Mueller calculus, which calculates the polarization state of the light. First, we set an initial value of the shape of the transparent object. Then, by changing the shape, the method minimizes the difference between the input polarization data and the rendered polarization data calculated by polarization raytracing. Finally, after the iterative computation is converged, the shape of the object is obtained. We also evaluate the method by measuring some real transparent objects.