Patent ID: 7792367

Claim:
An image processing method for reconstructing the surface shape of an object based on a polarized image thereof using an image processing apparatus, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining, as an image capturing step, polarized images by measuring, supposing an angle that defines a plane, which includes both a line connecting an imaging viewpoint and an observation point on the object together and a surface normal at the observation point, and that represents the angle of orientation of that plane around the line is identified by Ψ, the polarized light intensities of a light ray that is polarized parallel to the plane defined by the angle Ψ for multiple different angles Ψ; classifying pixels as constituent elements of each said polarized image into a plurality of areas with different reflection properties including a specular reflection area and a diffuse reflection area; drawing, as a first step of getting an estimated normal, a surface normal to the diffuse reflection area based on polarization information about the diffuse reflection area; drawing, as a second step of getting an estimated normal, a surface normal to the specular reflection area based on polarization information about the specular reflection area; and evaluating the degree of continuity between the estimated surface normals that have been drawn in the first and second steps, thereby dispelling the uncertainty of the surface normals.