Reciprocal Shading for Mixed Reality

Information

• Publication Type: PhD-Thesis
• Workgroup(s)/Project(s):
  • Reciprocal Shading for Mixed Reality
• Date: December 2013
• Date (Start): August 2009
• Date (End): December 2013
• Second Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Mark Billinghurst
• 1st Reviewer: Michael Wimmer
• 2nd Reviewer: Prof. Dr. Mark Billinghurst
• Rigorosum: 19. December 2013
• First Supervisor: Michael Wimmer

Abstract

Reciprocal shading for mixed reality aims to integrate virtual objects into real environments in a way that they are in the ideal case indistinguishable from real objects. It is therefore an attractive technology for architectural visualizations, product visualizations and for cultural heritage sites, where virtual objects should be seamlessly merged with real ones. Due to the improved performance of recent graphics hardware, real-time global illumination algorithms are feasible for mixed-reality applications, and thus more and more researchers address realistic rendering for mixed reality.

The goal of this thesis is to provide algorithms which improve the visual plausibility of virtual objects in mixed-reality applications. Our contributions are as follows:

First, we present five methods to reconstruct the real surrounding environment. In particular, we present two methods for geometry reconstruction, a method for material estimation at interactive frame rates and two methods to reconstruct the color mapping characteristics of the video see-through camera.

Second, we present two methods to improve the visual appearance of virtual objects. The first, called differential instant radiosity, combines differential rendering with a global illumination method called instant radiosity to simulate reciprocal shading effects such as shadowing and indirect illumination between real and virtual objects. The second method focuses on the visual plausible rendering of reflective and refractive objects. The high-frequency lighting effects caused by these objects are also simulated with our method.

The third part of this thesis presents two user studies which evaluate the influence of the presented rendering methods on human perception. The first user study measured task performance with respect to the rendering mode, and the second user study was set up as a web survey where participants had to choose which of two presented images, showing mixed-reality scenes, they preferred.

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BibTeX

@phdthesis{knecht_2013_RSM,
  title =      "Reciprocal Shading for Mixed Reality",
  author =     "Martin Knecht",
  year =       "2013",
  abstract =   "Reciprocal shading for mixed reality aims to integrate
               virtual objects into real environments in a way that they
               are in the ideal case indistinguishable from real objects.
               It is therefore an attractive technology for architectural
               visualizations, product visualizations and for cultural
               heritage sites, where virtual objects should be seamlessly
               merged with real ones. Due to the improved performance of
               recent graphics hardware, real-time global illumination
               algorithms are feasible for mixed-reality applications, and
               thus more and more researchers address realistic rendering
               for mixed reality.  The goal of this thesis is to provide
               algorithms which improve the visual plausibility of virtual
               objects in mixed-reality applications. Our contributions are
               as follows:  First, we present five methods to reconstruct
               the real surrounding environment. In particular, we present
               two methods for geometry reconstruction, a method for
               material estimation at interactive frame rates and two
               methods to reconstruct the color mapping characteristics of
               the video see-through camera.  Second, we present two
               methods to improve the visual appearance of virtual objects.
               The first, called differential instant radiosity, combines
               differential rendering with a global illumination method
               called instant radiosity to simulate reciprocal shading
               effects such as shadowing and indirect illumination between
               real and virtual objects. The second method focuses on the
               visual plausible rendering of reflective and refractive
               objects. The high-frequency lighting effects caused by these
               objects are also simulated with our method.  The third part
               of this thesis presents two user studies which evaluate the
               influence of the presented rendering methods on human
               perception. The first user study measured task performance
               with respect to the rendering mode, and the second user
               study was set up as a web survey where participants had to
               choose which of two presented images, showing mixed-reality
               scenes, they preferred.",
  month =      dec,
  address =    "Favoritenstrasse 9-11/E193-02, A-1040 Vienna, Austria",
  school =     "Institute of Computer Graphics and Algorithms, Vienna
               University of Technology ",
  URL =        "https://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/research/publications/2013/knecht_2013_RSM/",
}