Optical image recognition of three-dimensional objects.

A three-dimensional (3-D) optical image-recognition technique is proposed and studied. The proposed technique is based on two-pupil optical heterodyne scanning and is capable of performing 3-D image recognition. A hologram of the 3-D reference object is first created and then is used to modulate spatially one of the pupils of the optical system; the other pupil is a point source. A 3-D target object to be recognized is then scanned in two dimensions by optical beams modulated by the two pupils. The result of the two-dimensional scan pattern effectively displays the correlation of the holographic information of the 3-D reference object and that of the 3-D target object. A strong correlation peak results if the two pieces of the holographic information are matched. We analyze the proposed technique and thereby lay a theoretical foundation for optical implementations of the idea. Finally, computer simulations are performed to verify the proposed idea.