Fast Relative Depth Computation for an Active Stereo Vision System

Real-time computation of exact depth is not feasible in an active vision setup. Instead, reliable relative depth information which can be rapidly computed is preferred. In this paper, a stereo cue for computing relative depth obtained from an active stereo vision system is proposed. The proposed stereo cue can be computed purely from the coordinates of points in the stereo pair. The computational cost required is very low. No camera calibration or prior knowledge of the parameters of the stereo vision system is required. We show that the relationship between the relative depth cue and the actual depth in the three-dimensional (3D) space is monotonic. Such a relation is maintained even when the focal length and the vergence angle are changed, so long as the focal lengths of the two cameras are similar. Therefore, real-time implementation in an active vision setup can be realized. Stability analysis shows that the proposed method will be stable in practical situations, unless the stereo camera diverges. Experimental results are presented to highlight the properties and advantages of the proposed method.