Volumetric stereo with silhouette and feature constraints

This paper presents a novel volumetric reconstruction technique that combines shape-from-silhouette with stereo photo-consistency in a global optimisation that enforces feature constraints across multiple views. Human shape reconstruction is considered where extended regions of uniform appearance, complex self-occlusions and sparse feature cues represent a challenging problem for conventional reconstruction techniques. A unified approach is introduced to first reconstruct the occluding contours and left-right consistent edge contours in a scene and then incorporate these contour constraints in a global surface optimisation using graph-cuts. The proposed technique maximises photo-consistency on the surface, while satisfying silhouette constraints to provide shape in the presence of uniform surface appearance and edge feature constraints to align key image features across views.