Ray Phase Space Approach for 3-D Imaging and 3-D Optical Data Representation

We propose a framework to model, analyze and design three-dimensional (3-D) imaging systems. A system engineering approach is adopted which relates 3-D images (real or synthesized) to 3-D objects (real or synthesized) using a novel representation of the optical data which we call "ray phase space." The framework provides a powerful tool for determining the performance of 3-D imaging systems, for generating computational reconstruction of 3-D images and for optimizing 3-D imaging systems.