Slides: Extended Depth-of-Field Lensless Imaging Using an Optimized Radial Mask

Lensless cameras possess significant advantages when compared to lens-based ones. By replacing the lens with a coded aperture, the camera device can be made lighter, smaller, amenable towards compressive sensing techniques, and can be designed with less physical constraints. We leverage this freedom of design to propose a novel optimized coded mask that effectively extends the depth of field of a lensless camera. In this webinar, we will start by introducing the concept of lensless imaging along with the reason as to why general lensless cameras have a limited depth of field. We follow by presenting our proposal of using a radial coded mask to extend the camera’s depth of field, as well as our novel optimization procedure that enforces a radial-like-structure on the mask while optimizing its modulation transfer function response. Finally, we will showcase multiple experimental results that confirm both the extended depth-of-field capabilities as well as improved reconstruction image quality of our lensless imager. The current limitations of our work as well as potential future research directions will also be discussed.