Abstract: Determining an absolute depth estimate of a vehicle object in a 2D image captured by a camera includes receiving the 2D image captured by the camera. It further includes determining, at least in part by using a segmentation model, a plurality of pixels corresponding to the vehicle object in the 2D image. It furhter includes using a prediction model to determine, for each pixel in the plurality of pixels determined at least in part by using the segmentation model, a correspondng camera invariant distance value comprising a predicted height of a cross-section of the vehicle object that is visible within a given pixel. It further includes determining the absolute depth estimate of the vehicle object in the 2D image based on: a focal length of the camera that captured the 2D image; and an aggregation of the predicted heights determined for each of the pixels in the plurality of pixels.