A Critical Review of the Trifocal Tensor Estimation

We explore the advantages offered by the trifocal tensor in the pose estimation of a triplet of cameras as opposed to computing the relative poses pair by pair with the fundamental matrix. Theoretically, the trinilearities characterize uniquely three corresponding image points in a tighter way than the three epipolar equations and this translates in an increasing accuracy. However, we show that this initial improvement is not enough to have a remarkable impact on the pose estimation after bundle adjustment, and the use of the fundamental matrix with image triplets remains relevant.