Fourier-Transform-Based Surface Measurement and Reconstruction of Human Face Using the Projection of Monochromatic Structured Light

This work presents a new approach of surface measurement of human face via the combination of the projection of monochromatic structured light, the optical filtering technique, the polarization technique and the Fourier-transform-based image-processing algorithm. The theoretical analyses and experimental results carried out in this study showed that the monochromatic feature of projected fringe pattern generated using our designed laser-beam-based optical system ensures the use of optical filtering technique for removing the effect of background illumination; the linearly-polarized characteristic makes it possible to employ a polarizer for eliminating the noised signal contributed by multiply-scattered photons; and the high-contrast sinusoidal fringes of the projected structured light provide the condition for accurate reconstruction using one-shot measurement based on Fourier transform profilometry. The proposed method with the portable and stable optical setup may have potential applications of indoor medical scan of human face and outdoor facial recognition without strict requirements of a dark environment and a stable object being observed.