COLOR REPRESENTATION IN VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS

Techniques are suggested for improved color treatment in real-rime ren dering of synthetic environments. These include the use of emissive te xtures within a radiosity-based global illumination model, the additio n of dynamic specular highlights to a radiosity-based model, and an al ternative approach to full spectral representation that uses a radiosi ty solution engine in the complex domain. The target application, dyna mic rendering of theatrical settings for lighting design, demands both color accuracy and correct treatment of subtle reflections, transluce ncy, and specular highlights. The new techniques appear to provide an appropriate solution. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.