Real Illumination from Virtual Environments

We introduce a method for actively controlling the illumination in a room so that it is consistent with a virtual world. In combination with a high dynamic range display, the system produces both uniform and directional illumination at intensity levels covering a wide range of real-world environments. It thereby allows natural adaptation processes of the human visual system to take place, for example when moving between bright and dark environments. In addition, the directional illumination provides additional information about the environment in the user's peripheral field of view. We describe both the hardware and the software aspects of our system. We also conducted an informal survey to determine whether users prefer the dynamic illumination over constant room illumination in an entertainment setting.