Geometry-dependent lighting

IEEE Trans Vis Comput Graph. 2006 Mar-Apr;12(2):197-207. doi: 10.1109/TVCG.2006.30.

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce geometry-dependent lighting that allows lighting parameters to be defined independently and possibly discrepantly over an object or scene based on the local geometry. We present and discuss Light Collages, a lighting design system with geometry-dependent lights for effective feature-enhanced visualization. Our algorithm segments the objects into local surface patches and places lights that are locally consistent but globally discrepant to enhance the perception of shape. We use spherical harmonics for efficiently storing and computing light placement and assignment. We also outline a method to find the minimal number of light sources sufficient to illuminate an object well with our globally discrepant lighting approach.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms*
  • Computer Graphics*
  • Image Enhancement / methods*
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods*
  • Information Storage and Retrieval / methods
  • Lighting*
  • User-Computer Interface*