A Study in 3D-Reconstruction Using Kinect Sensor

Most of types of laser distance measuring instrument cost hundreds of thousand dollars such as Laser scanner or Depth Camera that generates depth maps of space very fast. And the handling is too complicated for non-professional users. So the utilization of 3D reconstruction is very limited. This article introduces a workflow of 3D reconstruction using a new cheaper instrument, the Microsoft Kinect. Kinect sensor can generate depth frames at the rate of 30 per second and the mean distance error can be as low as 4 millimeters and it only costs about $200. Furthermore, Microsoft offers a full set of drivers and interfaces for the using of Kinect in Windows 7 and Windows 8. These entire features make Kinect a promising 3D data source that can be used in 3D reconstruction of room sized scenes and navigation of robots.