Looking Around the Corner Using Transient Imaging

Abstract

We show that multi-path analysis using images from a timeof-flight (ToF) camera provides a tantalizing opportunity to infer about 3D geometry of not only visible but hidden parts of a scene. We provide a novel framework for reconstructing scene geometry from a single viewpoint using a camera that captures a 3D time-image I(x, y, t) for each pixel. We propose a framework that uses the time-image and transient reasoning to expose scene properties that may be beyond the reach of traditional computer vision. We corroborate our theory with free space hardware experiments using a femtosecond laser and an ultrafast photo detector array. The ability to compute the geometry of hidden elements, unobservable by both the camera and illumination source, will create a range of new computer vision opportunities.