Improved Diffuse Reflection Models for Computer Vision

There are many computational vision techniques that fundamentally rely upon assumptions about the nature of diffuse reflection from object surfaces consisting of commonly occurring nonmetallic materials. Probably the most prevalent assumption made about diffuse reflection by computer vision researchers is that its reflected radiance distribution is described by the Lambertian model, whether the surface is rough or smooth. While computationally and mathematically a relatively simple model, in physical reality the Lambertian model is deficient inaccuratelydescribingthereflectedradiancedistributionforbothroughandsmoothnonmetallicsurfaces. Recently, in computer vision diffuse reflectance models have been proposed separately for rough, and, smooth nonconducting dielectricsurfaceseachofthesemodelsaccuratelypredictingsalientnon-Lambertianphenomenathathaveimportant bearing on computer vision methods relying upon assumptions about diffuse reflection. Together these reflectance models ar...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 1998
• Where: IJCV
• Authors: Lawrence B. Wolff, Shree K. Nayar, Michael Oren
• Keywords: Diffuse Reflection, IJCV 1998, Lambertian Model, Reflectance Models