A method for facilitating removal of specular reflection noise from light data can include illuminating, using an illumination unit, a target with a light source. The illumination unit is configured to project light with a spatial light pattern onto the target. The method can also include acquiring, with a sensor unit, light data that is reflected from the target. The light data may comprise a directly reflected spatial light pattern and a specular reflected spatial light pattern. The directly reflected spatial light pattern and the specular reflected spatial light pattern comprise at least one spatial distinction that distinguishes the directly reflected spatial light pattern from the specular reflected spatial light pattern. The method can further comprise processing the light data to distinguish the directly reflected spatial light pattern from the specular reflected spatial light pattern based upon the at least one spatial distinction.