Section: Scientific Foundations

Guiding principles

We base our research on the following principles:

Mathematical and geometrical characterization of models and algorithms

In all our target applications, it is crucial to control the level of approximation, for instance through reliable error bounds. Thus, all simplification techniques, either concerning geometry or lighting, require a precise mathematical analysis of the solution properties.

Balance between speed and fidelity

We seek to develop representations affording a controllable balance between these conflicting goals. In particular this applies to multi-resolution techniques, where an appropriate generic process is defined, that can then be applied to “well chosen” levels of the hierarchy. This aspect is of course key to an optimal adaptation to the chosen application context, both for lighting simulations of geometric transformations and for simplification.

Model and parameter extraction from real data

Modeling geometric shapes, appearance data and various phenomena is the most tedious task in the creation process for virtual scenes. In many cases it can be beneficial to analyze real documents or scenes to recover relevant parameters. These parameters can then be used to model objects, their properties (light sources, reflectance data...) or even more abstract characteristics such as rendering styles. Thus this idea of parameter extraction is present in most of our activities.

User friendliness

In all our applications we try to keep in mind the role of the final user in order to offer intuitive controls over the result. Depending on the targeted goal we seek a good compromise between automation and manual design. Moreover we put the user into the research loop as much as possible via industrial contracts and collaboration with digital artists.