Giving Machine Vision Much-Needed Depth Perception
For cameras, the lack of depth perception presents a depth of problems. Two-dimensional machine vision systems, for example, struggle to recognize shapes. Traditionally, three-dimensional vision has involved multiple cameras or a laser rangefinder, but both approaches have drawbacks. The first doubles the number of cameras needed, while the second requires a rapidly moving beam.
Several companies are commercializing a technique that yields 3-D information using only one sensor. Canesta Inc....
Photonics Spectra, May 2005