Reconstruction of Lambertian surfaces by discrete equal height contours and regions propagation

This paper describes two new methods for the reconstruction of discrete surfaces from shading images. Both approaches are based on the reconstruction of a discrete surface by mixing photometric and geometric techniques. The processing of photometric information is based on reflectance maps, which are classic tools of Shape from Shading. The geometric features are extracted from the discrete surface and propagated along the surface. The propagation is based in one case on equal height discrete contour propagation and in the other case on region propagation. Both methods allow photometric stereo. Results of reconstruction from synthetic and real images are presented. q 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.