Patent ID: 7612870

Claim:
A method, comprising: imaging a scene using a plurality of the apertures arranged in a pattern of a specified shape by allowing light from the scene to pass only through the plurality of apertures onto an imager; associating each of the apertures with a different and separate portion of the imager, so that light which passes through each aperture is imaged on a different portion of the imager; capturing light reflected from or emitted by a large plurality of isolated distinguishable points of the scene that pass through each of the plurality of apertures and that is received at the imager as a plurality of isolated distinguishable point images, the isolated distinguishable point images each including a number of image points that is equal to a number of the plurality of apertures; and analyzing each image point in each isolated distinguishable point image from the imager to determine relative positions of each isolated distinguishable point in the scene relative to each other isolated distinguishable point in the scene to map a complete three dimensional image of the scene.