Depth extraction by focal/aperture variation

This paper describes a method of extracting depth information about a scene from a single, static viewpoint. The. approach uses aperture variation to obtain a sequence of images differing only in depth of field, thus avoiding the 'correspondence problem associated with stereo and optical flow techniques. These images contain the necessary coded depth information. By using one image (that with the smallest aperture) as a reference and using knowledge of the. Point Spread function (PSF) of (he system, we can compare the images and hence obtain a depth map for all those points in the image which have sufficient grey-level gradient. We propose a r-alislic model for the system. Several methods of depth extraction from the data are suggested.