Modeling and rendering of heterogeneous translucent materials using the diffusion equation

US8243071B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Microsoft Corporation · US

Inventors

• Jiaping Wang · Beijing, CN
• Xin Tong · Beijing, CN
• Stephen S. Lin · Beijing, CN
• Baining Guo · Redmond, US
• Heung-Yeung Shum · Bellevue, US
• Zhouchen Lin · Beijing, CN

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 29, 2008
• Grant date: Aug 14, 2012
• Expiry date: Nov 17, 2030

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06T15/50
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

An exemplary method includes providing image data for an illuminated physical sample of a heterogeneous translucent material, determining one or more material properties of the material based in part on a diffusion equation where one of the material properties is a diffusion coefficient for diffusion of radiation in the material and where the determining includes a regularization term for the diffusion coefficient, mapping the one or more material properties to a virtual object volume, assigning virtual illumination conditions to the virtual object volume, and rendering the virtual object volume using the virtual illumination conditions as a boundary condition for a system of diffusion equations of the virtual object volume. Other methods, devices and systems are also disclosed.