If an object is not visible in IR, sensors such as the Kinect or an IR range finder cannot see it.  To address this problem we have developed a technique for applying a temporary contrast agent to image the object in IR.  We scan the object with the contrast agent to obtain a high-quality depth map.  After the contrast agent is removed, we localize the object with vision and incorporate the high-quality depth information based on the visual pose estimate.   This video shows our preferred method for applying the contrast agent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNwuyQlw87A&feature=youtu.be