Fourier-Transform-Based Surface Measurement and Reconstruction of Human Face Using the Projection of Monochromatic Structured Light

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 21; no. 7; p. 2529
• Main Authors: Chen, Bingquan, Li, Hongsheng, Yue, Jun, Shi, Peng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 04.04.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: 3D imaging and sensing; Accuracy; Diffraction patterns; Face recognition; Filtration; Fourier transforms; human face; Image processing; Laser beams; Lasers; Light; Methods; pattern recognition; polarization; Polarizers; Projectors; Propagation; reconstruction; Scanners; structured light; human face; reconstruction; polarization; structured light; 3D imaging and sensing; pattern recognition
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s21072529

This work presents a new approach of surface measurement of human face via the combination of the projection of monochromatic structured light, the optical filtering technique, the polarization technique and the Fourier-transform-based image-processing algorithm. The theoretical analyses and experimental results carried out in this study showed that the monochromatic feature of projected fringe pattern generated using our designed laser-beam-based optical system ensures the use of optical filtering technique for removing the effect of background illumination; the linearly-polarized characteristic makes it possible to employ a polarizer for eliminating the noised signal contributed by multiply-scattered photons; and the high-contrast sinusoidal fringes of the projected structured light provide the condition for accurate reconstruction using one-shot measurement based on Fourier transform profilometry. The proposed method with the portable and stable optical setup may have potential applications of indoor medical scan of human face and outdoor facial recognition without strict requirements of a dark environment and a stable object being observed.