Exploring Lighting Spaces

We present a simple system for interactively specifying lighting parameters, including position, for high-quality image synthesis. Unlike inverse approaches to the lighting-design problem, we do not require the user to indicate a priori the desired illuminative characteristics of an image. In our approach the computer proposes, culls, and organizes a set of candidate lights automatically, using an elementary measure of image similarity as the basis for both culling and organization. The user then browses the set of candidate-light images, selects which lights to include, and combines them as desired. This work is a particular instance of a general strategy | sampling a design space broadly and intelligently and organizing the results for rapid browsing by the user | that may be applicable to many other design problems in computer graphics. This work may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part for any commercial purpose. Permission to copy in whole or in part without payment of fee is granted for nonpro t educational and research purposes provided that all such whole or partial copies include the following: a notice that such copying is by permission of Mitsubishi Electric Information Technology Center America; an acknowledgment of the authors and individual contributions to the work; and all applicable portions of the copyright notice. Copying, reproduction, or republishing for any other purpose shall require a license with payment of fee to Mitsubishi Electric Information Technology Center America. All rights reserved. Copyright c Mitsubishi Electric Information Technology Center America, 1996 201 Broadway, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 1. First printing, TR95-18, January 1996.