A simple method of generating pseudo-solid texture for optical 3-D image

A simple method to generate pseudo-solid texture map of a 3-D digital image is described. The geometric shape of 3-D image is reconstructed from the d igital moire topographic system. The pseudo-solid texture mapping is accomp lished by acquiring the deformed carrier fringe pattern, and then followed by a procedure of removing the spatial carrier and implementing a geometric mapping from gray-scale image (2D texture) to 3D reconstructed digital ima ge. The unique feature of this method is that only single step acquisition is needed to obtain both geometric shape and texture information of 3-D obj ect surface and it does not require any scanning mechanisms during the imag e acquisition. Experimental results are presented to illustrate the validit y of simultaneous texture extraction using proposed method and show the nat ural 3-D texture representation of a real, free-from object surface without any visual distortion.