Interactive Rendering of Heterogeneous Translucent Objects

Subsurface scattering is a subtle and often overlooked phenomena responsible for the translucent effects seen in many materials due to the interaction of light with the medium. We describe an algorithm for approximating the appearance of translucent objects with heterogeneous material properties. More specifically, object materials that exhibit translucency and volumetric texture variations. By estimating the physical behavior of light in a participating medium while taking into account the salient perceptual features, we generate perceptually acceptable images. An analysis in terms of performance and rendered images is also performed. Objects rendered using our method are modeled as a polygonal mesh with a scalar volume describing the spatial density of the material. The interactive performance achieved coupled with the polygonal representation makes this algorithm well-suited for use in real-time computer graphics applications such as video games