Nvidia Corporation

Google Inc.

Matthew Milton Pharr

Eric Hugh Veach

Craig E Kolb

Cass Watson Everitt

Morgan McGuire

William R Mark

Johnny Chung Lee

Evan Hardesty Parker

Peter Schuyler Shirley

Rev Lebaredian

Dominik Philemon Kaeser

Ward Lopes

Larry I Gritz

Thomas Müller

Daniel William Erickson

Manfred Ernst

Craig Donner

David Augustus Hart

Puneet Lall

A system and method for generating a set of samples stratified across two-dimensional elementary intervals of a two-dimensional space is disclosed within the application. A computer-implemented technique for generating the set of samples includes selecting an elementary interval associated with a stratification of the two-dimensional space, initializing at least one data structure that indicates valid regions within the elementary interface based on other samples previously placed within the two-dimensional space, and generating a sample in a valid region of the elementary interval utilizing the at least one data structure to identify the valid region prior to generating the sample. In some embodiments, the data structures comprise a pair of binary trees. The process can be repeated for each elementary interval of a selected stratification to generate the set of stratified two-dimensional samples.

Generation of sample points in rendering applications using elementary interval stratification

Sampling a function is used for many applications, such as rendering images. The challenge is how to select the best samples to minimize computations and produce accurate results. An alternative is to use a larger number of samples that may not be carefully selected in an attempt to increase accuracy. For a function that is an integral, such as functions used to render images, a sample distribution may be computed by inverting the integral. Unfortunately, for many integrals, it is neither easy nor practical to compute the inverted integral. Instead, warp functions may be combined to provide a sample distribution that accurately approximates the factors of the product being integrated. Each warp function approximates an inverted term of the product while accounting for the effects of warp functions approximating other factors in the product. The selected warp functions are customized or 'fitted' to implement importance sampling for the approximated product.

Estimating product integrals using a composition of warps

In a system having a user-portable display device, a method includes maintaining a lightfield data structure representing at least a portion of a four-dimensional (4D) lightfield for a three-dimensional (3D) world in association with a first pose of the user-portable display device relative to the 3D world. The method further includes determining a second pose of the user-portable display device relative to the 3D world, the second pose comprising an updated pose of the user-portable display device. The method additionally includes generating a display frame from the lightfield data structure based on the second pose, the display frame representing a field of view of the 3D world from the second pose.

System and methods for performing electronic display stabilization via retained lightfield rendering

In one general aspect, a computer-implemented method can include identifying a plurality of pixel samples included in a layered depth image (LDI) representation of a scene for rendering in a three-dimensional (3D) image in a virtual reality (VR) space, grouping, by a processor, a subset of the plurality of pixel samples into a block of data, including extracting each pixel sample included in the subset of the plurality of pixel samples from the LDI representation of the scene for inclusion in the block of data based on an error metric associated with the respective pixel sample, creating, by the processor, a texture map for a block of data, the texture map being associated with the block of data, storing the block of data and the texture map, and triggering a rendering of the 3D image in the VR space using the block of data and the texture map.

Image based rendering techniques for virtual reality

A graphics processing subsystem is programmed with shader programs that make calls to an abstract interface. One or more subshaders implementing the functions of the abstract interface can also be defined. The binding of interfaces to functions is resolved by a language runtime module that compiles the subshaders. As shader programs are compiled, the runtime module determines whether each method call is associated with an interface function. For each interface method call, the runtime module determines the appropriate implementation of the interface to be bound to the method call. Once the appropriate implementation is identified, the interface binding is created using string substitution or indirect addressing instructions. At the time of compilation, which may be during the execution of the rendering application, the desired combinations of subshaders are specified and compiled into a combined shader program, which can then be executed by the graphics processing subsystem.

Subshader mechanism for programming language

This invention relates generally to the art of computer graphics, and more specifically to the field of line sampling object scene information for the purpose of reconstructing an image of the object scene. In particular, the inventions distributes a set of line samples across an image plane such that the distribution of the set of line samples is non-regular. Additionally, the invention projects objects from an object scene onto an image plane and computes a view of the objects along each line sample in the set of line samples. Finally, the invention combines the view along each line sample in the set of line samples to form a view of the object scene.

System and method of line sampling object scene information

The present invention is related to rendering computer animated video and/or images generally, and to improving the calculation of diffusely reflected light. The present invention includes a system and method of computing diffusely reflected light at one or more positions on surfaces in an object scene from object scene data. The present invention typically includes the step of and/or instructions for selecting a non-regular order for processing a plurality of positions on a surface&#x2014;the plurality of positions having been predetermined. The present invention also includes the step of and/or instruction for processing the plurality of positions in the non-regular order. This processing typically includes computing diffusely reflected light at a position in the plurality of positions by reference to diffusely reflected light incident on the position when deriving the diffusely reflected light at the position by reference to diffusely reflected light at other positions computed by reference to diffusely reflected light incident on the other positions is inaccurate. Alternatively, deriving the diffusely reflected light at the position by reference to the diffusely reflected light at the other positions computed by reference to diffusely reflected light incident on the other positions when deriving the diffusely reflected light at the position by reference to the diffusely reflected light at the other positions is accurate.

System and method of improved calculation of diffusely reflected light

The present invention is related to rendering computer animated video and/or images generally, and to efficiently intersecting rays with an object scene while shading complex object representations. The present invention, generally, includes creating a plurality of representations for the object. After creating the plurality of representations, a plurality of primary positions are established on one of the representations. Shading positions on one or more other representations included in the plurality of representations are then established by reference to the primary positions. These shading positions correspond to the plurality of primary positions and each of these representations has a coarser resolution than the representation with the primary positions. Shading values for the shading positions are the computed and applied to the plurality of primary positions.

System and method of using multiple representations per object in computer graphics

A system and method of maintaining computer graphics data sets in a line tree data structure. A data set is defined by a reference range with endpoint references rand rand is associated with a segment of a sampling line that analytically represents a part of an object. A data set contains data at the endpoint references rand rincluding values for depth, color, transparency, and depth range. Targeted data sets are defined as data sets containing certain reference values and are retrieved using a data set retrieval procedure. After retrieval, a targeted data set is compared to a new data set by a data set update procedure to determine whether the targeted data set remains, the new data set replaces the targeted data set, or modified data sets are required to be created and inserted into the line tree data structure.

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San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Matthew Milton Pharr