Simple wave-field rendering for photorealistic reconstruction in polygon-based high-definition computer holography

Abstract

A simple and practical technique is presented for creating fine three-dimensional (3D) images with polygon-based computer-generated holograms. The polygon-based method is a technique for computing the optical wave-field of virtual 3D scenes given by a numerical model. The presented method takes less computation time than common point-source methods and produces fine spatial 3D images of deep 3D scenes that convey a strong sensation of depth, unlike conventional 3D systems providing only binocular disparity. However, smooth surfaces cannot be reconstructed using the presented method because the surfaces are approximated by planar polygons. This problem is resolved by introducing a simple rendering technique that is almost the same as that in common computer graphics, since the polygon-based method has similarity to rendering techniques in computer graphics. Two actual computer holograms are presented to verify and demonstrate the proposed technique. One is a hologram of a live face whose shape is measured using a 3D laser scanner that outputs polygon-mesh data. The other is for a scene including the moon. Both are created employing the proposed rendering techniques of the texture mapping of real photographs and smooth shading.