A New Stereo Matching Paradigm for the Recovery of the Third Dimension in Two-Dimensional Images

This thesis, having been approved in respect to form and mechanical execution, is referred to you for judgement upon its substantial merit. iii To my family iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my endless gratitude to the people who have supported me with all of their love and means throughout my studies and research. My parents, whose immense support and confidence in me have never ceased and never will. The Rodriguez family, whom I have learned a great deal from and could never thank enough for all of their help! And Yudit, whose love and inexpressible support have made the past two years special-words cannot express my feelings for her! My deepest and most sincere appreciation is extended to Dr. Malek Adjouadi for his ideas, persistence and vision-this work would not have been complete without him. A great deal of thanks and appreciation also goes to the electrical engineering faculty at Florida International University who schooled me and have molded me into the engineer I am today. A special thanks is extended to the professors who served on my thesis committee, Dr. Pierre Schmidt and Dr. Malcolm Heimer-their suggestions and advice were well received and helped shape this work. Dr. Jean Andrian provided great insight and helped me reach a better understanding of the wavelet theory. Thank you! Let's not forget the "Vision" gang who helped with my questions and problems in this and other non-related fields: Habibie "machack expert knowledge of computers saved me 'many a time' when the systems acted up! v