This dissertation addresses the problem of employing 3D depth information on solving a number of traditional challenging computer vision/graphics problems. Humans have the abilities of perceiving the depth information in 3D world, which enable humans to reconstruct layouts, recognize objects and understand the geometric space and semantic meanings of the visual world. Therefore it is significant to explore how the 3D depth information can be utilized by computer vision systems to mimic such abilities of humans. This dissertation aims at employing 3D depth information to solve vision/graphics problems in the following aspects: scene understanding, image enhancements and 3D reconstruction and modeling. In addressing scene understanding problem, we present a framework for semantic segmentation and object recognition on urban video sequence only using dense depth maps recovered from the video. Five view-independent 3D features that vary with object class are extracted from dense depth maps and used for segmenting and recognizing different object classes in street scene images. We demonstrate a scene parsing algorithm that uses only dense 3D depth information to outperform using sparse 3D or 2D appearance features. In addressing image enhancement problem, we present a framework to overcome the imperfections of personal photographs of tourist sites using the rich information provided by large-scale internet photo collections (IPCs). By augmenting personal 2D images with 3D information reconstructed from IPCs, we address a number of traditionally challenging image enhancement techniques and achieve high-quality results using simple and robust algorithms. In addressing 3D reconstruction and modeling problem, we focus on parametric modeling of flower petals, the most distinctive part of a plant. The complex structure, severe occlusions and wide variations make the reconstruction of their 3D models a challenging task. We overcome these challenges by combining data driven modeling techniques with domain knowledge from botany. Taking a 3D point cloud of an input flower scanned from a single view, each segmented petal is fitted with a scale-invariant morphable petal shape model, which is constructed from individually scanned 3D exemplar petals. Novel constraints based on botany studies are incorporated into the fitting process for realistically reconstructing occluded regions and maintaining correct 3D spatial relations. The main contribution of the dissertation is in the intelligent usage of 3D depth information on solving traditional challenging vision/graphics problems. By developing some advanced algorithms either automatically or with minimum user interaction, the goal of this dissertation is to demonstrate that computed 3D depth behind the multiple images contains rich information of the visual world and therefore can be intelligently utilized to recognize/ understand semantic meanings of scenes, efficiently enhance and augment single 2D images, and reconstruct high-quality 3D models.

While modern digital cameras incorporate sophisticated engineering, in terms of their core functionality, cameras have changed remarkably little in more than a hundred years. In particular, from a given viewpoint, conventional photography essentially remains limited to manipulating a basic set of controls: exposure time, focus setting, and aperture setting. In this dissertation we present three new methods in this domain, each based on capturing multiple photos with different camera settings. In each case, we show how defocus can be exploited to achieve different goals, extending what is possible with conventional photography. These methods are closely connected, in that all rely on analyzing changes in aperture. First, we present a 3D reconstruction method especially suited for scenes with high geometric complexity, for which obtaining a detailed model is difficult using previous approaches. We show that by controlling both the focus and aperture setting, it is possible compute depth for each pixel independently. To achieve this, we introduce the "confocal constancy" property, which states that as aperture setting varies, the pixel intensity of an in-focus scene point will vary in a scene-independent way that can be predicted by prior calibration. Second, we describe a method for synthesizing photos with adjusted camera settings in post-capture, to achieve changes in exposure, focus setting, etc. from very few input photos. To do this, we capture photos with varying aperture and other settings fixed, then recover the underlying scene representation best reproducing the input. The key to the approach is our layered formulation, which handles occlusion effects but is tractable to invert. This method works with the built-in "aperture bracketing" mode found on most digital cameras. Finally, we develop a "light-efficient" method for capturing an in-focus photograph in the shortest time, or with the highest quality for a given time budget. While the standard approach involves reducing the aperture until the desired region is in-focus, we show that by "spanning" the region with multiple large-aperture photos,we can reduce the total capture time and generate the in-focus photo synthetically. Beyond more efficient capture, our method provides 3D shape at no additional cost.

While modern digital cameras incorporate sophisticated engineering, in terms of their core functionality, cameras have changed remarkably little in more than a hundred years. In particular, from a given viewpoint, conventional photography essentially remains limited to manipulating a basic set of controls: exposure time, focus setting, and aperture setting. In this dissertation we present three new methods in this domain, each based on capturing multiple photos with different camera settings. In each case, we show how defocus can be exploited to achieve different goals, extending what is possible with conventional photography. These methods are closely connected, in that all rely on analyzing changes in aperture. First, we present a 3D reconstruction method especially suited for scenes with high geometric complexity, for which obtaining a detailed model is difficult using previous approaches. We show that by controlling both the focus and aperture setting, it is possible compute depth for each pixel independently. To achieve this, we introduce the "confocal constancy" property, which states that as aperture setting varies, the pixel intensity of an in-focus scene point will vary in a scene-independent way that can be predicted by prior calibration. Second, we describe a method for synthesizing photos with adjusted camera settings in post-capture, to achieve changes in exposure, focus setting, etc. from very few input photos. To do this, we capture photos with varying aperture and other settings fixed, then recover the underlying scene representation best reproducing the input. The key to the approach is our layered formulation, which handles occlusion effects but is tractable to invert. This method works with the built-in "aperture bracketing" mode found on most digital cameras. Finally, we develop a "light-efficient" method for capturing an in-focus photograph in the shortest time, or with the highest quality for a given time budget. While the standard approach involves reducing the aperture until the desired region is in-focus, we show that by "spanning" the region with multiple large-aperture photos,we can reduce the total capture time and generate the in-focus photo synthetically. Beyond more efficient capture, our method provides 3D shape at no additional cost.