Estimating 3-D motion parameters and object surface structures from the image motion of conic arcs, I: Theoretical basis

This paper discusses a technique for estimation of 3-D motion parameters and object surface orientation of a rigid moving object from the correspondence of a conic arc segment in several perspective views; the correspondences of the intermediate points on the conic arcs are not known a priori. The paper focusses on a theorem and a corollary regarding the validity of simultaneously representing a pair of corresponding conic arc segments, one before and the other after the motion, using rational quadratic parameterization scheme with each corresponding pair of points on the two conic arcs characterized by the same running parameter. This theorem is essential to the proof of uniqueness and the derivation of solutions for the 3-D motion parameters and object surface orientation; these topices are covered in a later paper[15].