Theoretical Analysis and User-oriented Controls of Image Synthesis and Animation

电磁力决定了许多重要的常用技术的行为。人们可能会惊讶地发现，由于光是电磁的一种特殊形式，许多用于设计节能供暖系统或绝缘更好的电力线的科学技术，可以以一种改良的形式，用于在剧情片和互动媒体中产生令人惊叹的视觉效果。同样令人惊讶的是，类似的数学模型也被用于医学成像和股票预测。这些看似不相关的领域背后的许多重叠基础都受到光传输的影响：光如何反射、反弹以及与现实世界中的物体相互作用的科学。我们的目标是更好地理解和模拟光的行为方式，例如，当它反射和吸收到不同的材料，如人体皮肤，木材或布料，仅举几例。这一领域需要克服许多重大的科学、数学和技术障碍。新发现的知识可以用来模拟光的行为，使用广泛的商品计算设备，从普通的智能手机到台式电脑，再到互联网上的云计算。这些模拟可以在广泛的应用中使用，广泛影响诸如建筑设计、娱乐、医学和金融等领域。除了更好地理解我们的物理世界是如何运作的科学利益之外，新的精确光传输模拟的发展可以用来加强加拿大作为计算机图形和相关行业领导者的良好声誉，以及在图形之外具有潜在的广泛适用性，如上所述。一个例子是能够生成更逼真的虚拟人物图像和视频，头发和皮肤可以投射复杂的阴影，并以微妙但令人信服的方式反射光。

Electromagnetic forces dictate the behavior of many important common-place technologies. It may come as a surprise then to discover that, since light is a special form of electromagnetism, much of the science and technology used in designing energy efficient heating systems or better insulating power lines can be used, in a modified form, to generate the stunning visual effects in feature-films and interactive media. Just as surprising is that similar mathematical models are used in medical imaging and stock prediction. Much of the overlapping foundation behind these seemingly unrelated areas has been influenced by light transport: the science behind how light reflects, bounces, and interacts with objects in the real world.We aim to better understand and model the way light behaves, for example, when it reflects and absorbs into different materials like human skin, wood, or cloth, to name a few. Many significant scientific, mathematical, and technological hurdles need to be overcome in this area. New-found knowledge can be used to simulate the behavior of light using a wide range of commodity computational devices, ranging from common smartphones, to desktop computers, and cloud computing over the internet. These simulations can be used in a wide range of applications, broadly influencing areas such as architectural design, entertainment, medicine, and finance.Apart from the scientific benefit that comes from a better understanding of how our physical world acts, the development of new accurate light transport simulations can be used to strengthen Canada's already strong reputation as a leader in computer graphics and related industries, as well as having potentially broad applicability outside of graphics, as outlined above. An example outcome is the ability to generate more realistic images and videos of virtual characters, with hair and skin that cast complex shadows and reflect light in a subtle but convincing manner.