Patent ID: 6990228

Claim:
In an image processing apparatus having a processor for processing image data representing images of an object taken from a plurality of different camera positions, a method of processing image data to derive a representation of a three-dimensional surface of the object, the method comprising the steps of: (a) defining an initial volume containing the object surface as an initial space formed of voxels; (b) accessing data representing images of the object recorded at different camera positions with respect to the object; (c) checking to see if a voxel meets at least one criterion by projecting that voxel into at least one of the images; (d) dividing, if the voxel does not meet the at least one criterion, the voxel into subsidiary voxels; and (e) checking to see if the subsidiary voxels meet at least one criterion by projecting the subsidiary voxels into at least one of the image, wherein the at least one criterion comprises any one or more of the following: 1) a color variance in a pixel patch to which the voxel projects in an image has a value lower than a predetermined value; 2) a difference in color or average color between pixel patches to which the voxel projects in different images has a standard deviation less than a predetermined value; and 3) the voxel is not partially occluded by a voxel or subsidiary voxels of smaller size than the voxel.