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Predicting Visual Perception of Material Structure in Virtual Environments
Author(s) -
Filip J.,
Vávra R.,
Havlíček M.,
Krupička M.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
computer graphics forum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.578
H-Index - 120
eISSN - 1467-8659
pISSN - 0167-7055
DOI - 10.1111/cgf.12789
Subject(s) - bidirectional reflectance distribution function , computer science , rendering (computer graphics) , bidirectional texture function , perception , artificial intelligence , computer vision , computer graphics (images) , reflectivity , image processing , image texture , image (mathematics) , optics , physics , neuroscience , biology
One of the most accurate yet still practical representation of material appearance is the Bidirectional Texture Function (BTF). The BTF can be viewed as an extension of Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) for additional spatial information that includes local visual effects such as shadowing, interreflection, subsurface‐scattering, etc. However, the shift from BRDF to BTF represents not only a huge leap in respect to the realism of material reproduction, but also related high memory and computational costs stemming from the storage and processing of massive BTF data. In this work, we argue that each opaque material, regardless of its surface structure, can be safely substituted by a BRDF without the introduction of a significant perceptual error when viewed from an appropriate distance. Therefore, we ran a set of psychophysical studies over 25 materials to determine so‐called critical viewing distances, i.e. the minimal distances at which the material spatial structure (texture) cannot be visually discerned. Our analysis determined such typical distances typical for several material categories often used in interior design applications. Furthermore, we propose a combination of computational features that can predict such distances without the need for a psychophysical study. We show that our work can significantly reduce rendering costs in applications that process complex virtual scenes.