Spatial Phase Imaging

The quest for high-resolution, accurate 3D geometry at real-time speeds has led to the evolution of various 3D sensing mechanisms - from biologically motivated methods such as shape from motion and stereo, time-delay based methods such as LIDAR and RADAR, and structured light systems. Practitioners of 3D (range) imaging are well aware of the shortcomings of these methods such as sparse 3D points, low Z resolution, and bulky setups. — In this paper we describe a revolutionary 3D imaging technology that Photon-X has pioneered over the last ten years to surmount these shortcomings. The resulting Spatial Phase Imaging (SPI) technology measures both, the color and phase response from the scene with a modified focal plane array. This results in extremely high-resolution, accurate 3D geometry on a uniform grid using a single camera. Furthermore, this technology can be made to work with any existing sensor-optics combination, making it amenable to a plethora of applications.