The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 19, 2005
Filed:
Feb. 07, 2004
Paul E. Debevec, Marina del Rey, CA (US);
Andrew J. Gardner, Marina del Rey, CA (US);
Timothy S. Hawkins, Marina del Rey, CA (US);
Paul E. Debevec, Marina del Rey, CA (US);
Andrew J. Gardner, Marina del Rey, CA (US);
Timothy S. Hawkins, Marina del Rey, CA (US);
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
A reflectometry apparatus and method is presented that allow the diffuse and specular reflectance parameters of an object to be independently and reliably measured, and that allow the variations in surface normal and surface height to be estimated. An extended light source having an elongated configuration, for example a linear cylindrical light source such as a neon tube, is moved across the surface of an object while a digital camera detects the reflected light to acquire a series of images of the object surface. A reflectance trace table is synthesized for a range of model parameters using a virtualized rendition of the linear light source. For each pixel, the observed reflectances are compared to the synthesized reflectance trace table, to determine the reflectance parameters that most closely match the observed data.