Shape From Symmetry

Sebastian Thrun and Ben Wegbreit

We describe a technique for reconstructing probable occluded surfaces from 3-D range images. The technique exploits the fact that many objects possess shape symmetries that can be recognized even from partial 3-D views. Our approach identifies probable symmetries and uses them to extend the partial 3-D shape model into the occluded space. To accommodate objects consisting of multiple parts, we describe a technique for segmenting objects into parts characterized by different symmetries. Results are provided for a real-world database of 3-D range images of common objects, acquired through an active stereo rig.

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@INPROCEEDINGS{Thrun05d,
  AUTHOR	= {S. Thrun and B. Wegbreit},
  TITLE		= {Shape From Symmetry},
  YEAR		= {2005},
  BOOKTITLE	= {Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV)},
  PUBLISHER     = {IEEE},
  ADDRESS       = {Bejing, China}
}