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A Brief Introduction to Stereo-Photogrammetry — Parallax Forums

A Brief Introduction to Stereo-Photogrammetry

A Brief Introduction to Stereo-Photogrammetry

If you have visited the P2 forum lately, I think you can tell that I am fairly excited about the P2 and it's future uses for all kinds of image processing that are important to robotics and various mechanics. I have enough to say that I could easily occupy myself writing a book, but then I would actually have to look up references and then I would have to get it publish... someone would have to buy it, etc. etc. Just not a very useful way to spend my time... I'm old. Time is important. Instead, I'm going to journalize myself here... where people interested in all things Propeller will see it. And where I have no fixed schedule. I can write what I like and not have to worry about an editor.

FINDING THE PROBLEM... you have to pick a good problem in order to find a good solution.

I originally became interested in stereo-photogrammetry as a resident in ophthalmology at the now defunct Mt. Sinai Hospital in Cleveland. The director of our program and my mentor was Jerome Gans. Gerome was a genius. He knew as much or more about almost every aspect of ophthalmology as any sub-specialist dedicated to that single aspect. Gerome was one of the most widely respected ophthalmologist in the country. When Bruno Kreisky, the Chancellor of Austria, had a retinal hemorrhage, our State Department asked Doctor Gans to go take care of him. Things must have gone pretty well for Bruno, because the American Society of Retinal Specialists is meeting this year at the Bruno-Kreisky Center in Austria.

Doctor Gans invented automated perimetry... those visual field devices that look like half a sphere mounted on a table. Among the many uses of automated perimetry is in the diagnosis and management of glaucoma.
Not long after I was at Mt. Sinai, I learned that Gerome had hired a man to help him build his perimeters. After learning everything he could from Dr. Gans, the guy stole all of that intellectual property and started his own company. Which very quickly put Doctor Gans out of that business. Doctor Gans was quite bitter about it and talked about it frequently. By the wierdest of coincidences, it turned out that "the guy" was my wife's uncle.

Years later the guy went to jail for fraud in the marketing of a hydrostatic keratome. Whether he actually did the fraud or was simply being repaid by the community for what he had done to Doctor Gans, I don't know:) The keratome worked as intended, so I can't see that much fraud could have been involved.
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