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GPU‐Based Nonlinear Ray Tracing
Author(s) -
Weiskopf Daniel,
Schafhitzel Tobias,
Ertl Thomas
Publication year - 2004
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/j.1467-8659.2004.00794.x
Subject(s) - ray tracing (physics) , rendering (computer graphics) , computer science , computer graphics (images) , global illumination , computer graphics , visualization , parallel rendering , scientific visualization , distributed ray tracing , real time rendering , graphics , 3d rendering , artificial intelligence , physics , optics
In this paper, we present a mapping of nonlinear ray tracing to the GPU which avoids any data transfer back to main memory. The rendering process consists of the following parts: ray setup according to the camera parameters, ray integration, ray‐object intersection, and local illumination. Bent rays are approximated by polygonal lines that are represented by textures. Ray integration is based on an iterative numerical solution of ordinary differential equations whose initial values are determined during ray setup. To improve the rendering performance, we propose acceleration techniques such as early ray termination and adaptive ray integration. Finally, we discuss a variety of applications that range from the visualization of dynamical systems to the general relativistic visualization in astrophysics and the rendering of the continuous refraction in media with varying density. Categories and Subject Descriptors (according to ACM CCS): I.3.3 [Computer Graphics]: Picture/Image Generation I.3.7 [Computer Graphics]: Three‐Dimensional Graphics and Realism