The Irradiance Volume

This paper presents a volumetric representation for the global illumination within a space based on the radiometric quantity irradiance. We call this representation the irradiance volume. Although irradiance is traditionally computed only for surfaces, we extend its de nition to all points and directions in space. The irradiance volume supports the reconstruction of believable approximations to the illumination in situations that overwhelmtraditional global illumination algorithms. A theoretical basis for the irradiance volume is discussed and the methods and issues involved with building the volume are described. The irradiance volume method shows good performance in several practical situations.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 1998
• Where: CGA
• Authors: Gene Greger, Peter Shirley, Philip M. Hubbard, Donald P. Greenberg
• Keywords: CGA 1998, Computational Geometry, Global Illumination, Irradiance Volume, Radiometric Quantity Irradiance