Interactive dynamic objects in a virtual light field

This report builds upon existing work on Virtual Light Fields (VLF). A previous VLF implementation allows interactive walkthrough of a static globally illuminated scene on a modern desktop computer. This report outlines enhancements to this implementation which allow movable geometry to be added to existing VLF solutions. Two diffuse shading modes are implemented for the dynamic geometry. A fast simple mode which approximates the emitters in the VLF using OpenGL light sources and a slower advanced mode which approximates the diffuse inter-reflection and soft shadows received on the dynamic geometry using information from the VLF. In both modes the dynamic geometry casts hard shadows onto existing diffuse geometry in the scene. Both modes can achieve interactive rates on a high specification modern desktop computer, although advanced mode is limited to simple dynamic objects due to the expensive diffuse gathering step. Potential optimisations are discussed.

@MastersThesis\{Wit05,
  author       = "Wither, Jamie",
  title        = "Interactive dynamic objects in a virtual light field",
  school       = "University College London",
  year         = "2005",
  keywords     = ""virtual light field", "global illumination"",
  url          = "http://www-evasion.imag.fr/Publications/2005/Wit05"
}