Pose Hashing with Microlens Arrays

Ian Schillebeeckx, Robert Pless

Abstract: We design and demonstrate a passive physical object whose appearance changes to give a discrete encoding of its pose. This object is created with a microlens array that is placed on top of a black and white pattern; when viewed from a particular viewpoint, the lenses appear black or white depending on the part of the pattern that each microlens projects towards that viewpoint. We analyze different design considerations that impact the information gained from the appearance of microlens array. In addition, we introduce the process through which the discrete microlens pattern can be turned into a viewpoint and a pose estimate. We empirically evaluate factors that impact viewpoint and pose estimation accuracy. Finally, we compare the pose estimation accuracy of the microlens array to other related fiducial markers.