3-D visualization of transparent fluid flows from snapshot light field data

Abstract

This paper presents the use of light field data, recorded in a snapshot from a single plenoptic camera, for 3-D visualization of transparent fluid flows. We demonstrate the transfer of light field deconvolution, a method so far used only in microscopy, to macroscopic scales with a photographic setup. This technique is suitable for optically thin media without any additional particles or tracers and allows volumetric investigation of non-stationary flows with a simple single camera setup. An experimental technique for the determination of the shift-variant point spread functions is presented, which is a key for applications using a photographic optical system. The paper shows results from different test cases with increasing complexity. Reconstruction of the 3-D positions of randomly distributed light points demonstrates the achievable high accuracy of the technique. Gas flames and droplets of a fluorescent liquid show the feasibility of the proposed method for the visualization of transparent, luminous flows. The visualizations exhibit high quality and resolution in low-contrast flows, where standard plenoptic software based on computer vision fails. Axial resolution depends on the data and is about an order of magnitude lower than the lateral resolution for simple point objects. The technique also allows the time-resolved analysis of flow structures and the generation of 3D3C-velocity fields from a sequence of exposures. Graphical Abstract