"GPU-assisted high-resolution, real-time 3-D shape measurement," Opt. Express, (2006)

[6] S Zhang, D Royer and S-T Yau, "GPU-assisted high-resolution, real-time 3-D shape measurement," Opt. Express, 14, 9120-9129, 2006 (Selected for November 13, 2006 issue of The Virtual Journal for Biomedical Optics); doi: 10.1364/OE.14.009120

This paper describes a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)-assisted real-time three-dimensional shape measurement system. Our experiments demonstrated that the absolute coordinates calculation and rendering speed of a GPU is more than four times faster than that of a dual CPU workstation with the same graphics card. By implementing the GPU into our system, we realized simultaneous absolute coordinate acquisition, reconstruction and display at 30 frames per second with a resolution of approximately 266K points per frame. Moreover, a 2+1 phase-shifting algorithm was employed to alleviate the measurement error caused by motion. Applications of the system include medical imaging, manufacturing, entertainment, and security.