Overview
My main research interest is the investigation of methods that simplify the design of objects' appearance, which comes from the interaction of surface materials and scene lighting, through the development of interactive rendering algorithms and intuitive appearance design interfaces. This research led to various theoretical results and practical applications in the areas of interactive realistic rendering, user interfaces and visual perception. A comprehensive list of publications is available.
This work has been made possible by the help of various collaborators (K. Bala @ Cornell, J. Lawrence @ UVa, A. Finkelstein @ Princeton, D. Greenberg @ Cornell, many others @ Pixar), PhD students (B. Kerr @ Dartmouth, X. An @ Dartmouth, M. Hasan @ Cornell) and undergraduates (H. Payne, A. Steinberg, R. Dimov, E. Greenberg).
This work is partially supported by generous grants from NSF, Google, Pixar and ISTS.
Projects
 
 |
Intuitive appearance designDesigning appearance, i.e. material and lighting parameters, is cumbersome since current interfaces require designers to specify algorithmic parameters that are only indirectly related to objectsÍ appearance. My work investigates interfaces that allow users to effectively specify environmentsÍ final looks, and algorithms that automatically set the appearance parameters required to achieve usersÍ goals. Related papers:
|
  |
Interactive appearance designInteractive feedback is fundamental for efficient appearance design. While for simple scenes current algorithms serves us well, I am particularly interested in guaranteeing interactivity while designing materials and lighting in the globally-illuminated high-complexity environments, which remains problematic for typical applications in architectural, cinematic and game lighting. Related papers:
|
  |
Efficient rendering of complex appearanceHigh-quality rendering of complex environments remains problematic, especially when complex materials and lighting are involved. I am interested in deriving scalable algorithms for offline rendering of complex appearance in environments with high geometric complexity. I believe these developments will shed insights on how to derive interactive scalable formulations on future machines. Related papers: |
  |
Perceptual metrics for rendering algorithmsThe basic premise of appearance-based rendering is to avoid computing details of an image that our eyes cannot see. In the past, I have been interested in understanding how perceptual metrics can be used in interactive applications, instead of offline ones. To do so, I have investigated a decision theoretic formulation of interactive rendering, where perceptual metrics are used as priority schemes. Related papers: |
 |
Non-photorealistic renderingAnd finally, as most graphics people, I love artistic renditions. As a side project, I developed a generalized mosaicing algorithm that made the frontispiece for siggraph. Related papers: |