ITR/AP: Subsurface Light Scattering for Printed and Natural Surfaces

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

This project will produce a fundamentally new computational model of light scattering from surfaces with multiple heterogeneous layers (such as human skin and inkjet prints). The new model will remove common assumptions in current methods, including ignoring the roughness of the layer interfaces and simplifying the directional characteristics of the scattered light. Such an accurate, general model can be used in predictive simulation, a branch of information technology that already plays an important role in fields such as color science, electronic chip manufacturing, aerospace engineering, and automotive engineering. The project will extend predictive simulation to many new applications, including the development and testing of printing technologies, photographic image capture, medical diagnosis, remote sensing, and display devices. The project will combine theoretical and experimental approaches to provide a robust, efficient computer implementation of the new model. It will: - Construct an integrated array of high-quality digital cameras - Produce calibrated, complete measurements of the reflectance of printed flat samples and living human skin - Use powerful analytic and numerical tools to devise theoretical models of the scattering within the surfaces measured - Carefully implement a robust, accurate, efficient computational scattering model