Patent ID: 8441518

Claim:
An imaging apparatus, comprising: a first imaging controller configured to control imaging by an imaging unit; a movement distance acquirer configured to acquire a movement distance of the imaging unit required to generate a three-dimensional model of an imaged subject after the imaging controlled by the first imaging controller; a determining unit configured to determine whether the imaging unit has moved the movement distance acquired by the movement distance acquirer; a second imaging controller configured to control imaging by the imaging unit when it is determined by the determining unit that the imaging unit has moved the movement distance; a three-dimensional model generator configured to generate the three-dimensional model of the subject from an image acquired in the imaging controlled by the first imaging controller and an image acquired in the imaging controlled by the second imaging controller; and a subject distance acquirer configured to acquire a distance to the subject; wherein the movement distance acquirer calculates the movement distance L of the imaging unit required to generate the three-dimensional model of the subject, according to L=(Z*Z*p)/(ΔZ*f) where (i) Z represents the distance to the subject, (ii) p represents a pixel size of an image sensor, (iii) ΔZ represents an acceptable error of the distance Z, and (iv) f represents a focal length.