Presentation
MAVERICK
Acquisition, Representation and Transformations for Image Synthesis
The MAVERICK project is a team of the LJK/IMAG laboratory, a joint research unit of CNRS, INRIA, INPG and UJF. It is located at INRIA Rhône-Alpes in Montbonnot, France.
The project was created in January, 2003, based on the observation that classical image synthesis methods appear limited with respect to the variety of current applications. In particular, the typical approach consisting in separately modeling a 3D geometry and a set of photometric properties (reflectance, lighting conditions), then in computing their interaction to produce a picture, is too restrictive. First, this approach severely limits the adaptability to particular constraints or freedom allowed in each application (such as precision, real-time, interactivity, uncertainty about input data...); second, it restricts the possible image classes and does not easily lend itself to new uses in a more «expressive» way, such as for illustration, where a form of hierarchy on image constituents must be constructed.
One of the goals of the project is the definition of a more generic framework for the creation of synthetic images, integrating elements of 3D geometry, of 2D geometry (built from these), of appearance (photometry, textures...), of rendering style, and of importance or relevance for a given application. The MAVERICK project therefore deals with multiple aspects of image synthesis: model creation from various sources of data, transformations between these models, rendering and imaging algorithms, and the adaptation of the models and algorithms to various constraints or application contexts.