Shadow Cameras: Reciprocal views

from Illumination Masks

Scene appearance from the point of view of a light source is called a reciprocal or dual view. Since there exists a large diversity in illumination, these virtual views may be non-perspective and multi-viewpoint in nature. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of occluding masks to recover these dual views, which we term shadow cameras. We first show how to render a single reciprocal scene view by swapping the camera and light source positions. We then extend this technique for multiple views and build a virtual shadow camera array. We also capture non-perspective views such as orthographic, cross-slit and a pushbroom variant, while introducing novel applications such as converting between camera projections and removing catadioptric distortions. Finally, since a shadow camera is artificial, we can manipulate any of its intrinsic parameters, such as camera skew, to create perspective distortions.

Publications

"Shadow cameras: Reciprocal Views from Illumination Masks"
S. J. Koppal and S.G Narasimhan
Accepted to the International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV)
October, 2009.
[PDF]

Pictures

	Virtual perspective view using linear masks: In (I) we show a ray diagram for a perspective shadow camera. I(a) and I(b) show two translating linear masks occluding P at times i and j respectively. The intersection of the shadows associated with the two masks is a virtual ray, shown at I(c). This shadow ray passes through the light source, and is associated with a pixel (i,j) in a virtual image at I(d). In (II) we show a non-convex plastic object. Using linear masks we obtain the input images, shown at (III) which create a dual view in (IV). Note the foreshortening effects of looking down at the object (shortened legs, extended scales) and that specularity locations do not change. Also note that shadows in (II) are occluded in (IV).
	Virtual camera array from multiple linear masks: In (I) we show a grid mask with six intersections. We collect data using the horizontal and vertical masks separately, as shown in (II). We then place light sources at the six intersections of the mask, capturing six images. We swap these images using Helmholtz reciprocity and the minima locations of the mask shadows. The result is a virtual camera array, and in (III) and (IV) we show the two rows of the array. Note the images are stereo rectified both horizontal and vertically.
	Non-perspective and multi-view cameras: In (II) we show a cross-slit view created when the motion vectors of the linear masks do not intersect and the light source is moved between experiments. We demonstrate the distortion effects in (III). In (IV) we create a pushbroom-like view using the shadow from a single moving mask. Note the octopus in (V) appears illuminated by two light sources and each tentacle has two shadows.
	Unwarping refractive distortions: In (I) we show how the dual view of an object looking through refractive elements can be warp-free. This occurs when the light-source illuminates the object without being occluded by the refractive elements. In (II) we show an image of planar poster through two thick glass objects. (III) shows the dual view, which has undistorted, readable text.
	Controlling intrinsic parameters of shadow cameras: Since shadow cameras are virtual, we have control over the locations of the pixels in space. In (I) we show a dual view created by two linear masks moving with uniform motion at 90 degrees to each other. Varying the speed of these two perpendicular masks or adding a third linear mask that is not perpendicular to either of the two results in skewed and stretched images as seen in (II).