Shape from bandwidth: the 2-D orthogonal projection case

Could bandwidth—one of the most classic concepts in signal processing—have a new purpose? In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of using bandwidth to infer shape from a single image. As a first analysis, we limit our attention to orthographic projection and assume a 2-D world. We show that, under certain conditions, a single image of a surface, painted with a bandlimited texture, is enough to deduce the surface up to an equivalence class. This equivalence class is unavoidable, since it stems from surface transformations that are invisible to orthographic projections. A proof of concept algorithm is presented and tested with both a simulation and a simple practical experiment.