Automated reconstruction of 3D scenes from sequences of images

Modelling of 3D objects from image sequences is a challenging problem and has been an important research topic in the areas of photogrammetry and computer vision for many years. In this paper, a system is presented which automatically extracts a textured 3D surface model from a sequence of images of a scene. The system can deal with unknown camera settings. In addition, the parameters of this camera are allowed to change during acquisition (e.g., by zooming or focusing). No prior knowledge about the scene is necessary to build the 3D models. Therefore, this system offers a high degree of flexibility. The system is based on state-of-the-art algorithms recently developed in computer vision. The 3D modelling task is decomposed into a number of successive steps. Gradually, more knowledge of the scene and the camera setup is retrieved. At this point, the obtained accuracy is not yet at the level required for most metrology applications, but the visual quality is very convincing. This system has been applied to a number of applications in archaeology. The Roman site of Sagalassos (southwest Turkey) was used as a test case to illustrate the potential of this new approach. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.