Normal information generating device and normal information generating method

Abstract

To provide a normal vector information generating device and the like which can generate normal vector information of shadow areas with a high accuracy. The normal vector information generating device (100) generates normal vector information on the surface of an object, and includes: an image information obtaining unit (110) configured to obtain information about an image of the object, the information including luminance information which is information about luminance of light from the object and polarization information which is information about polarization of the light from the object; a shadow area extracting unit (120) configured to extract an attached shadow area and a cast shadow area from the image of the object based on the luminance information and the polarization information obtained by the image information obtaining unit (110), the attached shadow area appearing on the surface of the object depending on an angle of incidence light, and the cast shadow area appearing on the surface of a material body other than the object when the light is blocked by the object; and a normal vector information generating unit (104) configured to generate normal vector information identifying a normal vector on the surface of the object in the attached shadow area extracted by the shadow area extracting unit (120) using the polarization information obtained by the image information obtaining unit.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to a device for generating normal line information on the surface of an object, in particular to a device for generating normal line information from polarized light images. Background technique [0002] In the future, mobile phones with cameras, digital cameras, and digital video cameras will have the same level of high definition as HDTVs, and miniaturization in pursuit of added value will continue to spread. However, as miniaturization of the optical system and imaging element progresses, basic imaging limitations such as sensitivity and lens diffraction limit will arise, and high-definition will also reach the limit in the future. In this case, image quality can be improved by adding information about various physical characteristics used to generate an image using computer graphics to image information of a subject that has not been sufficiently acquired. For this reason, beyond the scope of conventional two-dimensional imag...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0007] However, the problem in the above-mentioned technique of Patent Document 1 is that only specular reflection is the target, and normal information cannot be generated for the shadow area.

In addition, the problem in the technique of Non-Patent Document 1 is that it is impossible to obtain accurate normal information for areas with different reflection characteristics such as projection and specular reflection only for diffuse reflection.

[0008] That is, there is a problem in the above-mentioned conventional technologies that, in any case, the normal information is generated using polarized light, but the normal information cannot be generated for the shadow area.

In the case where the normal information cannot be generated for the shadow area, although the estimation accuracy of the normal information can be improved, the area where the normal information can be estimated is very limited

Or, even if the conventional technique mentioned above is used to generate normal information for the shadow area, its accuracy will be very low

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