Robotics Meets Digital Photography
A California fashion photographer has combined robotic controllers, lasers and digital cameras to produce the next generation of digital imaging. An array of high resolution images and depth maps created with robotic precision are stitched together to create a navigable world.
San Diego, CA (PRWEB) March 18, 2005 -- A California fashion photographer has mixed robotics, laser scanners and digital photography to produce a new class of fashion images; something he calls "deep photography". Greg Passmore, a somewhat eccentric photographer specializing in alternative fashion became frustrated with the limitations of post processing and the 2D world. He teamed up with hardware and software specialists to create a system that looks more like a scifi contraption than something you would expect to see in a photo studio.
A spinning laser sweeps out a finely detailed and intricate geometry map, while multiple cameras controlled by robotic servos capture the interaction of light. The resulting data set is complex and full of information. One data array is the time it took the laser light to travel to the subject, and back. Another device measures the amount of reflected infrared light, while cameras capture the visual scene as well as additional depth cues for calibration. This whole library of sensor sources is combined, stitched and normalized to reproduce the entire stage as a navigable and 3D world. The key advantage of such a representation is the ability to more finely control the details of compositing, post shoot lighting, and subject positioning.
"A normal photo shoot produces a number of challenges once the art director gets involved in post. The director may feel the model is in the wrong place, the background needs to be replaced, the light is too hot, the hair too frizzy. Unfortunately, most of the valuable information from the shoot is gone by the time post is underway; such as the 3D relationships between objects, control of the light positions and distance from the camera to accurately determine mattes. This technology solves those problems by retaining this information. The art director gets what he wants without having to break the budget by re-shooting".
Next on Passmore's list is the integrated control of light positions and color during the shoot. Servos whirring lights into place while a computer scans the stage might sound odd, but Passmore insists that it frees time for art and design, rather than fighting the limitations of a flat photograph.
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