Complex Illumination, Materials and Shadows in Computer Vision

Natural illumination, realistic specular reflections, and complex cast shadows are key features in determining the appearance of objects. However, they have largely been ignored in computer vision algorithms. Indeed, most algorithms assume Lambertian objects lit by a single point source, without any explicit notion of visibility. Our goal is to derive the theoretical foundations and mathematical equations and computational techniques to allow much more robust computer vision algorithms that can work in outdoor lighting conditions, with difficult specular objects, taking shadows and interreflections into account.