Fringe projection decamouflaging

Abstract Unveiling the cheating mask of camouflage is of great significance in scientific and military research, but the acquisition of detailed information about camouflaged objects remains extremely difficult. This paper presents a fringe projection decamouflaging (FPDC) approach that can provide the position, outer rim profile, and shadow information about well-camouflaged objects in a complex scenario. FPDC requires no expensive instruments, just one camera and one projector for monitoring. A bionic detection field, namely, a phase-jump field, is established to detect the intrusion of camouflaged objects. Based on local variations in this field, multiple-parameter decamouflaging is achieved for the first time. Simulations and experiments show the superiority of this technique, which has potential applications in counterespionage, discovery of wild animals, and search-and-rescue.