Surface detail in computer models

Quantitative characterization of surface appearance is an important but difficult task. Surfaces of real world objects are detailed landscapes, with complex geometry and local optical properties. Surface appearance is strongly affected by the direction from which it is viewed and illuminated. Computational modeling of surface texture has potential uses in many applications including realistic rendering for computer graphics and robust recognition for computer vision. For recognition, the overall structure of the object is important, but fine-scale details can assist the recognition problem greatly. We develop models of surface texture and demonstrate their use in recognition tasks. We also describe a texture camera for capturing fine-scale surface details. Specifically, the texture camera measures reflectance and surface height variation using curved mirrors. We discuss why measurements and models of fine scale detail are important in modern industrial applications.