Advances in digital camera and optical technology are rapidly changing the face of computer graphics and computer-aided geometric design. Just a few years ago, these domains were primarily driven by painstaking user interaction. Objects and their surface properties were modeled almost exclusively by hand or were reconstructed from real measurements using scanned color textures, fragile computer vision techniques, and slow shape measurement methods based on touch probes. In the past decade, largely due to the availability of geometrically stable imaging technology such as charge-coupled devices (CCD's), compact light sources such as laser diodes, and cost-effective custom optics, the ability to bring the real world into the computer has grown at an explosive rate. Using these technologies we can acquire the shape and appearance of objects large and small. This capability has applications in numerous fields including mechanical design, reverse engineering, industrial inspection, medicine, special effects and games, and dissemination of museum artifacts.
This project will investigate a number of methods for bringing the shape and appearance of the real world into the computer. In the area of shape capture, the research will span the 3D scanning pipeline: from improved range finding methods, to faster and more concise registration and reconstruction algorithms. Further, traditional 2D images will be used to augment the pipeline at all stages. In the area of appearance capture, two novel directions will be explored: modeling and rendering radiance functions over surfaces and sample-based methods for representing the manner in which objects of unknown geometry reflect and refract light. The first direction promises to overcome some of the limitations of current, purely image-based rendering methods, while the latter represents a new paradigm for modeling light transport among real and synthetic objects. The educational goals of the project include involving graduates and particularly undergraduates in both teaching and research. In addition, a new "3D photography" course will be developed. Through lectures and hands-on projects, students will learn the principles and practice of capturing the shape and appearance of real world objects and then converting them into representations suitable for industrial design and computer animation.