Depth from motion 3D X-ray imaging for security screening

The X-ray screening of passenger luggage at airports is a complex visual task, which is exacerbated by the lack of cues to depth in an image that has been produced by transmitted radiation. This paper describes an X-ray imaging technique that combines binocular stereoscopic imagery with motion or kinetic depth effects to enhance the interpretation of the actual nature of the objects under examination. The development of image synthesis algorithms, which produce intermediary perspective images from a series of linear X-ray detector array views, is also presented. The algorithmic approach requires that the properties of dual-energy (materials discriminating) X-ray images be taken into account. If sufficiently high quality image synthesis can be achieved then intermediary linear X-ray sensors can be removed to minimise the hardware requirements of the technique.