Proposal Number: DMS 9803226 PI: Werner Stuetzle, Brian Curless, Tom Duchamp Institution: University of Washington Project: 3D Scanning: Acquiring and Modeling Surface Properties Abstract: 3D scanning is the inverse of computer aided manufacturing: given a physical object, such as a clay model of a car, a sculpture, a chair, or a house, create an electronic representation capturing its shape and appearance. 3D scanning is similar in principle to a number of other important technologies (like digital audio, digital photography, document scanning, and digital video) that quickly, accurately, and cheaply record useful aspects of physical reality. These technologies have had an enormous impact, primarily because electronic representations can be used in ways the original physical objects cannot. For example, they can be stored in, searched for, and retrieved from databases, transmitted electronically over long distances, manipulated and edited in software, and used as templates for making electronic or physical copies. Research in 3D scanning promises to have a similar impact on a number of areas, including the Federal Strategic Areas of high performance communication, civil infrastructure, and manufacturing, as well as virtual museums, entertainment, and product marketing. This research group and others have made significant progress in capturing, modeling, and displaying geometric shape. The task of acquiring and computing surface properties such as appearance, however, has received far less attention. The research effort in this project focuses on three aspects of the problem: (i) texturing, bump mapping and selective refinement of multiresolution meshes, (ii) capturing, modeling and displaying radiance (color as a function of position and direction), and (iii) generally estimating functions over surfaces.
