Methods and Systems for Generating Depth Data by Converging Independently-Captured Depth Maps

A method comprising:

• capturing, by a depth data generation system, a first depth map of surfaces of objects included in a real-world scene, the first depth map including a first plurality of depth data points each representative of a different physical point included in a plurality of physical points on the surfaces of the objects included in the real-world scene, the capturing of the first depth map performed from a particular node disposed at a particular fixed node position with respect to the real-world scene and using a structured light depth map capture technique;
• capturing, by the depth data generation system independently from the capturing of the first depth map, a second depth map of the surfaces of the objects included in the real-world scene, the second depth map including a second plurality of depth data points each representative of a different physical point included in the plurality of physical points on the surfaces of the objects included in the real-world scene, the capturing of the second depth map performed from the particular node disposed at the particular fixed node position and using a stereoscopic depth map capture technique;
• converging, by the depth data generation system, the first and second depth maps into a converged depth map of the surfaces of the objects included in the real-world scene, the converged depth map including a third plurality of depth data points each representative of a different physical point included in the plurality of physical points on the surfaces of the objects included in the real-world scene, the converging comprising:
• assigning a first confidence value to a first depth data point in the first plurality of depth data points of the first depth map, the first depth data point representing a particular physical point included in the plurality of physical points,
• assigning a second confidence value to a second depth data point in the second plurality of depth data points of the second depth map, the second depth data point representing the particular physical point, and
• generating, based on the first and second confidence values and on at least one of the first depth data point in the first plurality of depth data points and the second depth data point in the second plurality of depth data points, a third depth data point in the third plurality of depth data points, the third depth data point representing the particular physical point.

A system comprising:

• at least one physical computing device that
• accesses a first depth map of surfaces of objects included in a real-world scene, the first depth map including a first plurality of depth data points each representative of a different physical point included in a plurality of physical points on the surfaces of the objects included in the real-world scene;
• accesses a second depth map of the surfaces of the objects included in the real-world scene, the second depth map captured independently from the first depth map and including a second plurality of depth data points each representative of a different physical point included in the plurality of physical points on the surfaces of the objects included in the real-world scene;
• and
• converges the first and second depth maps into a converged depth map of the surfaces of the objects included in the real-world scene, the converged depth map including a third plurality of depth data points each representative of a different physical point included in the plurality of physical points on the surfaces of the objects included in the real-world scene, by
• assigning a first confidence value to a first depth data point in the first plurality of depth data points of the first depth map, the first depth data point representing a particular physical point included in the plurality of physical points,
• assigning a second confidence value to a second depth data point in the second plurality of depth data points of the second depth map, the second depth data point representing the particular physical point, and
• generating, based on the first and second confidence values and on at least one of the first depth data point in the first plurality of depth data points and the second depth data point in the second plurality of depth data points, a third depth data point in the third plurality of depth data points, the third depth data point representing the particular physical point.