Welcome to the Computational 3D Imaging and Measurement (3DIM) Lab!

We are working on a broad variety of problems in quantitative vision and computational imaging. Our research combines teachings from physical optics, image and signal processing, computer vision, and information theory. Our goal is to invent, develop, and build the next generation of 2D/3D computational imaging and display devices that overcome traditional limitations (e.g., in resolution, dynamic range, speed) to “make the unseen visible”. These instruments and the underlying principles will represent key technologies to foster transformational technical changes in the next decades.
Current applications of our developed techniques and systems can be found in medicine, VR/AR/MR, robotics, industrial inspection, automotive sensing, metrology, forensics, or cultural heritage preservation. Our present research includes novel methods to image hidden objects through scattering media or around corners, high-resolution holographic displays, unconventional methods for precise VR eye tracking, and the implementation of high-precision metrology methods in low-cost mobile handheld devices. Moreover, we develop novel time-of-flight and structured light imaging techniques working at depth resolutions in the 100μm-range.

At Northwestern University, our lab collaborates closely with the Computational Photography Lab (Prof. Oliver Cossairt), the Image and Video Processing Lab (Prof. Aggelos Katsaggelos), the Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts (Prof. Marc Walton), and Prof. Jack Tumblin.

About the PI

Florian Willomitzer is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Northwestern University, IL. He graduated from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, where he received his Ph.D. degree in Physics with honors (‘summa cum laude’) in 2017. During his doctoral studies (PhD advisor: Prof. Gerd Häusler) Florian investigated physical and information theoretical limits of optical 3D-sensing and implemented sensors that operate close to these limits. Concurrent with his Ph.D. activity, he was a freelancer in the research group’s spin-off company ‘3D Shape GmbH’ (now part of ISRA Vision) and he worked as a high school part time teacher for physics. Florian joined Northwestern University as Postdoc (Postdoc advisor: Prof. Oliver Cossairt) in Fall 2017, where he further shaped his current research profile.
Florian is General Chair of the OSA COSI conference, Optics Chair of the IEEE ICCP conference, and served/serves as reviewer for IEEE, OSA, SPIE, CVPR, and the Nature Portfolio. His Ph.D. thesis was awarded with the Springer Theses Award for Outstanding Ph.D. Research.
He is currently teaching the courses ‘CS331: Introduction to Computational Photography’, ‘EE420: Digital Image Processing’, and ‘EE395/495: Computational Photography Seminar’.