Binocular Stereo Matching by Local Attraction

Abstract

A new approach to binocular stereo matching for epipolar geometry is presented. It is based on the idea that some features (edges) in the left image exert forces on similar features in the right image in order to attract them. Each feature point (i,j) of the right image is described by a coordinate x(i,j). The coordinates obey a system of time discrete Newtonian equations, which allow the recursive updating of the coordinates until they match the corresponding points in the left image. That model is very flexible. It allows shift, expansion and compression of image regions of the right image, and it takes into account occlusion to a certain amount. Furthermore, it can be implemented in parallel-sequential network structures allowing future real-time stereo processing (when corresponding hardware is available). The algorithm, which is confined here as a first step only to image points along edges, was applied to some stereo image pairs with a certain success, which gives hope for further improvements.