CCD2017

Title: A Computer Graphics Perspective on Forward and Inverse Light Transport

Abstract: A recurring theme in my work is the development of devices and computational methods to measure, simulate, analyse and invert the propagation of light on macroscopic scales. In this talk, I will present a selection of recent research that is linked by the desire to replace specialized and heavyweight optical devices with consumer-grade hardware and computational methods. In particular, I will draw a vision of how computer graphics methodology (forward simulation of light transport, or rendering) could become a useful tool for solving inverse problems in imaging and various remote sensing applications.

Speaker Bio: Matthias Hullin is a professor of Digital Material Appearance at the University of Bonn, a post he took after research stages at the Max Planck Center for Visual Computing and Communication and the University of British Columbia. He obtained a doctorate in computer science from Saarland University (2010) with a dissertation that was awarded the Otto Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society, and a Diplom in physics from the University of Kaiserslautern (2007). His research is focused on the interface between physics, computer graphics and computer vision.

Title: Computational Display for Virtual and Augmented Reality

Abstract: Successful wearable displays for virtual & augmented reality face tremendous challenges, including: NEAR-EYE DISPLAY: how to put a display as close to the eye as a pair of eyeglasses, where we cannot bring it into focus? FIELD OF VIEW: how to fill the user’s entire vision with displayed content? RESOLUTION: how to fill that wide field of view with enough pixels, and how to render all of those pixels? A “brute force” display would require something like 10,000×8,000 pixels per eye! BULK: displays should be vanishingly unobtrusive, as light and forgettable as a pair of sunglasses, but the laws of optics dictate that most VR displays today are bulky boxes bigger than ski goggles. FOCUS CUES: today’s VR displays provide binocular display but only a fixed optical depth, thus missing the monocular depth cues from defocus blur and introducing vergence-accommodation conflict. EYEBOX: wearable displays must accommodate a wide range of facial shapes, ideally without being tightly strapped or custom-fitted to the wearer’s head, but many optical designs form a very small exit pupil or exhibit significant distortion across the eyebox.

To overcome these challenges requires understanding and innovation in vision science, optics, display technology, and computer graphics. At NVIDIA Research we have been drawing on all these fields to address (or sidestep!) these challenges, with the goal of moving closer to the “ultimate display”: a diffraction-limited, wide field-of-view, see-through display as light and forgettable as a pair of sunglasses. I will describe several computational display VR/AR prototypes in which we have co-designed the optics, display, and rendering algorithm with the human visual system to achieve new tradeoffs.

Speaker Bio: David Luebke runs graphics research at NVIDIA Research, which he helped found in 2006 after eight years on the faculty of the University of Virginia. His principal research interests are virtual and augmented reality, ray tracing, and real-time rendering.