Problem: 3-D capture techniques currently require bulky,

costly equipment, and a well trained operator. No consumer available camera of any type

currently exists that incorporates 3-D viewing.

Approach: Thesis: The flexibility of an integrated 3-D camera

would suit the needs of photo-hobbyists up through robotics applications.

Approach: Combine laser ranging with a biscopic imaging system.

How: By using a servo-mounted low power laser ranging device to gather direct distance information, while simultaneously taking biscopic imaging information, using the laser as a targeting device, it would be possible to create a 3-D color image automatically.

Impact: Consumer users and surveyors would be able to

take essentially effortless 3-D images with at most the help of a laptop.

Applications to machine vision obviously follow, and the format of the pictures would be necessarily enhanced with distance information, allowing for innovations in edge tracing and image processing.

Point and Click Digital Holographic Camera

Jeremy Choens