Stereo camera upgraded to equal baseline multiple camera set (EBMCS)

Abstract

The paper presents the results of using a set of five cameras called Equal Baseline Multiple Camera Set (EBMCS) for making 3D images, disparity maps and depth maps. Cameras in the set are located in the vicinity of each other and therefore the set can be used for the purpose of stereoscopy similarly as a stereo camera. EBMCS provides disparity maps and depth maps which have a better quality than these maps obtained with the use of a stereo camera. Moreover, EBMCS has many advantages over other kinds of equipment for making 3D images such as a Time-of-flight camera (TOF), Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), a structured-light 3D scanner, a camera array and a camera matrix. These advantages are described in the paper. The paper also compares the performance of EBMCS to the performance of stereo cameras.