Perception of 3-D surfaces from 2-D contours

Abstract

Inference of 3-D shape from 2-D contours in a single image is an important problem in machine vision. We survey classes of techniques proposed in the past and provide a critical analysis. We propose that two kinds of symmetries in figures, which are known as parallel and skew symmetries, give significant information about surface shape for a variety of objects. We derive the constraints imposed by these symmetries and show how to use them to infer 3-D shape. We discuss the zero Gaussian curvature (ZGC) surfaces in depth and show results on the recovery of surface orientation for various ZGC surfaces. © 1993 IEE