Digital cameras are commonly used on mobile devices. Depth sensing cameras are generally not used on mobile devices; however depth sensing cameras (such as time-of-flight cameras, structured light cameras, stereo cameras) can be used to measure object dimensions. Measuring object dimensions with depth sensing cameras, however, can require high quality and/or expensive components to deliver high precision data to compete with common ruler measurements. Furthermore, many of such depth sensing cameras have inherent problems. For example, depth sensing cameras that use structured light are subject to interference with ambient light; in addition, their precision declines with the distance to a physical object being dimensioned; and an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) is required to calculate depth data from the many structured light images that are acquired. Furthermore, stereo cameras can require a significant baseline for accurate measurements, that are then subject to low light degradation; and image correspondence problems can necessitate hardware acceleration. Time-of-flight cameras can be subject to noise, reflections and light interference; furthermore, accurate dimensioning measurements can require precise corners of the physical object being measured, and the time-of-flight can further provide poor results at edges of the physical object.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of implementations of the present specification.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the implementations of the present specification so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.