Polarization-based extracting diffuse reflection from light-field of object surface
Authors: Cai Yu-Dong , Han Ping-Li , Liu Fei , Yan Ming-Yu , Shao Xiao-Peng ,   Xi’an Key Laboratory of Computational Imaging, Xidian University, Xi’an 710071, China,   School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Xidian University, Xi’an 710071, China,   Interdisciplinary Research Center on Advanced Optics and Perception, Xidian University, Xi’an 710071, China
Published: December 2020

<sec>The reflection light field of surface of the Non-Lambertian body in nature has both specular reflection and diffuse reflection components. In the process of three-dimensional(3D) reconstruction, image matching and pattern recognition are based on the ideal Lambert body. The imaging effect is limited due to the presence of specular reflection components, and the accuracy of feature recognition is low. In order to obtain the diffuse reflection component accurately, a large number of studies have been conducted for a long time, which can be mainly divided into two parts: intensity- and polarization-based separation techniques. The intensity-based separation algorithm is limited in many aspects due to the prior knowledge, such as light source chromaticity, direction and image color information. With the maturity of detection technology, the acquisition and interpretation of multi-dimensional physical properties of light-field have made great progress of the utilization of polarization characteristics of light wave. Compared with traditional intensity imaging technology, the polarization imaging technology has strongr and many advantages in highlighting targets. However, in traditional polarization-based separation techniques, it is often necessary to assume that the diffuse light is completely unpolarized, which is used in some specific cases but not universally.</sec><sec>In this work, we report a method to obtain the diffuse reflection components of the target surface based on the polarization characteristics of the light-field. According to Fresnel's law and Lawrence B. Wolff's reflection model, the reflected light-field on the target surface can be divided into diffuse and specular components with partial polarization. The partial polarization characteristics of diffuse and specular components are explored in depth and the Stokes vector is used to calculate the minimum light intensity of each pixel modulated by polarizer, which is completely unpolarized light. By subtracting completely unpolarized light from the obtained polarized sub-images, the diffuse and specular components in the polarized part satisfy the linear constraint model. Based on the independent component analysis (ICA) model, the diffuse and specular components in the polarized part are regarded as independent and non-interfering additive vectors. The singular value decomposition method and optical relevancy of mutual information are used to determine the optimal mix coefficients matrix of the subcomponents in the linear constrained model. Thus, the diffuse components are accurately acquired and explained from the complex reflected light-field. </sec><sec>Simulation and experimental results show that the algorithm mentioned above can accurately obtain the optimal mix coefficients’ matrix without the prior knowledge of illuminant chromaticity, or direction or image chromatic information, or others. This technique can accurately obtain and remove the specular reflection part, at the same time, restore the diffuse light intensity which is covered by the specular reflection and conforms to the change trend of the surface shape. Meanwhile, the pretty good results also demonstrate that the proposed separation method has the strong stability and wide applicability. This technology does not have to make the assumption that 3D imaging technology and computer vision algorithms such as pattern recognition rely on natural objects as ideal Lambert bodies, and it can eleminate the influence of complex reflected light-field on target results, which makes passive remote 3D imaging technology more applicable and more robust.</sec>