Proximity3D: Shape from Capacitive Proximity on Sensing Manifold
Authors: Hao Chen, Chenming Wu, Chun Ping Lam, Xiangjia Chen, Guoxin Fang, Charlie C. L. Wang, Yeung Yam, Juncong Lin, +1 more
Organizations: Centre for Perceptual and Interactive Intelligence / Xiamen University, China · Independent Researcher, China · Centre for Perceptual and Interactive Intelligence, Hong Kong, China · The Chinese University of Hong Kong / Centre for Perceptual and Interactive Intelligence, China · The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom · Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
Most shape reconstruction methods assume measurements defined over planar sensing domains, such as RGB images or depth maps. In this paper, we use a curved capacitive textile as a shape sensor, treating its surface as a non-planar sensing manifold. Each scan is represented as a capacitive proximity field on this manifold, induced by the interaction between the curved electrode layout and nearby object geometry. We introduce a multi-view feedforward reconstruction model that aggregates these fields across known sensor views and recovers the observed object shape. Simulated and physical experiments demonstrate robust reconstruction from capacitive proximity signals acquired on curved sensing surfaces, pointing toward a new route to robotic near-field geometric awareness via embodied sensing.