ABSTRACT

How materials reflect and transmit light is an important area of study for computer graphics, optics, material science, and other industries, but it is difficult to study due to the four-dimensional nature of the elevation and azimuth of incoming light and elevation and azimuth of viewing position.

The purpose of this project is to develop an automated camera system to work in conjunction with a variable illumination sphere in order to photograph various materials being studied from any viewing angle and illuminated from any angle. This will allow researchers to create accurate, physically-based shading models for real-world objects. The camera-control system will also be used for multi-view stereo to capture face models for digital humans as well as real-world objects for computer graphics and animation.