Neural Microfacet Fields for Inverse Rendering

We present Neural Microfacet Fields, a method for recovering materials, geometry, and environment illumination from images of a scene. Our method uses a microfacet reflectance model within a volumetric setting by treating each sample along the ray as a (potentially non-opaque) surface. Using surface-based Monte Carlo rendering in a volumetric setting enables our method to perform inverse rendering efficiently by combining decades of research in surface-based light transport with recent advances in volume rendering for view synthesis. Our approach outperforms prior work in inverse rendering, capturing high fidelity geometry and high frequency illumination details; its novel view synthesis results are on par with state-of-the-art methods that do not recover illumination or materials.Comment: Project page: https://half-potato.gitlab.io/posts/nmf

Virtual Clay Modeling using Adaptive Distance Fields

This paper describes an approach for the parametrization and modeling of objects represented by adaptive distance fields (ADFs). ADFs support the construction of powerful solid modeling tools. They can represent surfaces of arbitrary and even changing topology, while providing a more intuitive user interface than control-point based structures such as B-splines. Using the octree structure, an adaptively refined quadrilateral mesh is constructed that is topologically equivalent to the surface. The mesh is then projected onto the surface using multiple projection and smoothing steps. The resulting mesh serves as the ``interface'' for interactive modeling operations and high-quality rendering

Optimal Hardware and Software Design of an Image-Based System for Capturing Dynamic Movements

In contrast to conventional image-capture systems, which attempt to minimize the amount of data collected during capture, typically by using hardware filters, the more general condition of using all information captured on a camera sensor is much more challenging and requires rigorous consideration of the hardware and software pipelines to obtain accurate tracking results. In this paper, this issue is specifically addressed by describing a unique hardware and software design implemented for use as a fully image-based capture system. An attempt is made to minimize the cost of this system by maximizing hardware control through software implementation. The hardware and software requirements are described in the context of the desired highspeed capture suitable for earthquake motions or other dynamic movements in a scene. Experiments are conducted and presented illustrating the good performance and stability of the system. This system is deemed suitable for the general condition of a building interior

CREACIÓN DE IMÁGENES Y VISUALIZACIÓN DE SANTUARIOS MAYAS EN CUEVAS DEL NORTE DE QUINTANA ROO, MÉXICO

[EN] Innovative imaging and visualization techniques allow for the capture and display of features or objects within their broader spatial contexts. With respect to Maya cave architecture, high-resolution panoramic visualization and the production of 3D models can be powerful analytical tools, enabling the evaluation of potentially meaningful relationships between natural features and constructed features within a cave. A collaboration between the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) in Quintana Roo and the University of California, San Diego involves a study of at-risk cave shrines. Initial comparative and multiscalar analyses across terrestrial and subterranean environments provide insight into the form, function, and meaning of Postclassic cave architecture in the northeastern Maya lowlands.[ES] Innovadoras técnicas de captación, creación de imágenes y visualización permiten la captura y exposición de entidades u objetos dentro de sus contextos espaciales. En cuanto a la arquitectura maya en cuevas, las panorámicas de gran resolución y la creación de modelos 3D se convierten en potentes herramientas de visualización y análisis que permiten la evaluación de potencialmente significantes relaciones entre las características naturales y construcciones humanas dentro de las mismas. Una nueva colaboración entre el Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) en Quintana Roo y la Universidad de California en San Diego contempla estudiar santuarios rupestres en riesgo. El análisis inicial a través de los entornos terrestres y subterráneos proporciona información sobre la forma, función y significado de la arquitectura postclásica maya en cuevas de las tierras bajas del noreste Maya.Rissolo, D.; Hess, M.; Hoff, A.; Meyer, D.; Amador, F.; Velazquez Morlet, A.; Petrovic, V.... (2016). IMAGING AND VISUALIZING MAYA CAVE SHRINES IN NORTHERN QUINTANA ROO, MEXICO. En 8th International congress on archaeology, computer graphics, cultural heritage and innovation. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 382-384. https://doi.org/10.4995/arqueologica8.2015.3701OCS38238

Developing an interoperable cloud-based visualization workflow for 3D archaeological heritage data. The Palenque 3D Archaeological Atlas

In archaeology, 3D data has become ubiquitous, as researchers routinely capture high resolution photogrammetry and LiDAR models and engage in laborious 3D analysis and reconstruction projects at every scale: artifacts, buildings, and entire sites. The raw data and processed 3D models are rarely shared as their computational dependencies leave them unusable by other scholars. In this paper we outline a novel approach for cloud-based collaboration, visualization, analysis, contextualization, and archiving of multi-modal giga-resolution archaeological heritage 3D data. The Palenque 3D Archaeological Atlas builds on an open source WebGL systems that efficiently interlink, merge, present, and contextualize the Big Data collected at the ancient Maya city of Palenque, Mexico, allowing researchers and stakeholders to visualize, access, share, measure, compare, annotate, and repurpose massive complex archaeological datasets from their web-browsers

An infant burial from Arma Veirana in northwestern Italy provides insights into funerary practices and female personhood in early Mesolithic Europe

The evolution and development of human mortuary behaviors is of enormous cultural significance. Here we report a richly-decorated young infant burial (AVH-1) from Arma Veirana (Liguria, northwestern Italy) that is directly dated to 10,211–9910 cal BP (95.4% probability), placing it within the early Holocene and therefore attributable to the early Mesolithic, a cultural period from which well-documented burials are exceedingly rare. Virtual dental histology, proteomics, and aDNA indicate that the infant was a 40–50 days old female. Associated artifacts indicate significant material and emotional investment in the child’s interment. The detailed biological profile of AVH-1 establishes the child as the earliest European near-neonate documented to be female. The Arma Veirana burial thus provides insight into sex/gender-based social status, funerary treatment, and the attribution of personhood to the youngest individuals among prehistoric hunter-gatherer groups and adds substantially to the scant data on mortuary practices from an important period in prehistory shortly following the end of the last Ice Age

The Designer Workbench Project: Semi-Immersive Interactive Modeling

The Designer-Workbench project aims at transforming the classical industrial modeling and design paradigm into its virtual analog using state-of-the-art three dimensional I display technology, data gloves and spatial tracking. This paper outlines the fundamental tools and design paradigms required for the implementation of this modeling envirornment and demonstrates the usablility of virual environments (VEs) for simulation of two-handed clay modeling and design tasks on the basis of non uniform rational B-spines (NURBS

Towards Interactive Finite Element Analysis of Shell Structures in Virtual Reality

A first step towards a semi-immersive Virtual Reality (VR) interfaace for Finite Element Analysis (FEA)is presented in this paper. During recent years, user interface of FEA solvers have matured from character-based command-line driven implementations into easy-to-use graphical user interfaces (GULs). This new generation of GULs provides access to intuitive and productive tools for the management and analysis of structural problems. Many pre- and post-processors have been implemented targeting the simplifications of the man-machine interface in order to increase the ease of use and provide better visual analysis of FEA solver results. Nevertheless, none of these packages provides a real 3D-enabled interface. The main objective of this project is to join state-of-the-art visualization technology, VR devices, and FEA solvers into the integrated development environment VRFEA