Using Shadows in Finding Surface Orientations,
Abstract
Given a line drawing from an image with shadow regions identified, the shapes of the shadows can be used to generate constraints on the orientations of the surfaces involved. This paper describes the theory which governs those constraints under orthography. A 'Basic Shadow Problem' is first posed, in which there is a single light source, and a single surface casts a shadow on another (background) surface. There are six parameters to determine: the orientation (2 parameters) for each surface, and the direction of the vector (2 parameters) pointing at the light source. If some set of 3 of these are given in advance, the remaining 3 can then be determined geometrically. The solution method consists of identifying 'illumination surfaces' consisting of illumination vectors, assigning Huffman-Clowes line labels to their edges, and applying the corresponding constraints in gradient space. The analysis is extended to shadows cast by polyhedra and curved surfaces. In both cases, the constraints provided by shadows can be analyzed in a manner analogous to the Basic Shadow Problem. When the shadow falls upon a polyhedron or curved surface, similar techniques apply. The consequences of varying the position and number of light sources are also discussed. Finally, some methods are presented for combining shadow geometry with other gradien space techniques for 3D shape inference. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 23, 1982
- Accession Number
- ADP000115
Entities
People
- Steven Arthur Shafer
- Takeo Kanade
Organizations
- Carnegie Mellon University