Automatic Segmented Area Structured Lighting

The aim of the research is to devise an automatic way to view and segment a scene of discrete 3D objects with or without ambient illumination and then to fully illuminate each object in turn without illuminating other objects or the background. The structured illumination must be controlled in time and space to have the same shape, size and position as the object. There is a need for such a system in the entertainment and visual arts industries for sound and light shows at night outdoors for selectively illuminating buildings, in caves or caverns for illuminating rock formations, or for illuminating mannequins, statues or waxwork figures in theatres sequentially in synchrony with a voiceover narration discussing each in turn. In these applications, such a technique has an advantage over the use of spotlights as only the object of interest is illuminated and not nearby objects or the background so helping the viewer to concentrate on just the object of interest. In this paper a video camera and projector system is reported with real time image processing feedback via a computer. The way in which the image processing algorithms in the feedback loop were developed to overcome various issues is explained.