Systems and methods for training a machine-learning-based monocular depth estimator

Systems and methods described herein relate to training a machine-learning-based monocular depth estimator. One embodiment selects a virtual image in a virtual dataset, the virtual dataset including a plurality of computer-generated virtual images; generates, from the virtual image in accordance with virtual-camera intrinsics, a point cloud in three-dimensional space based on ground-truth depth information associated with the virtual image; reprojects the point cloud back to two-dimensional image space in accordance with real-world camera intrinsics to generate a transformed virtual image; and trains the machine-learning-based monocular depth estimator, at least in part, using the transformed virtual image.