Proc ACM Comput Graph Interact Tech

Stochastic-Depth Ambient Occlusion

Jop Vermeer, Leonardo Scandolo, and Elmar Eisemann

Left: Horizon-based ambient occlusion (HBAO) uses only a depth map and underestimates occlusion due to hidden geometry. Right: Our stochastic-depth HBAO captures occluded geometry stochastically (2ms in full HD).

Ambient occlusion (AO) is a popular rendering technique that enhances depth perception and realism by darkening locations that are less exposed to ambient light (e.g., corners and creases). In real-time applications, screen-space variants, relying on the depth buffer, are used due to their high performance and good visual quality. However, these only take visible surfaces into account, resulting in inconsistencies, especially during motion. Stochastic-Depth Ambient Occlusion is a novel AO algorithm that accounts for occluded geometry by relying on a stochastic depth map, capturing multiple scene layers per pixel at random. Hereby, we efficiently gather missing information in order to improve upon the accuracy and spatial stability of conventional screen-space approximations, while maintaining real-time performance. Our approach integrates well into existing rendering pipelines and improves the robustness of many different AO techniques, including multi-view solutions.


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Citation

Jop Vermeer, Leonardo Scandolo, and Elmar Eisemann, Stochastic-Depth Ambient Occlusion, Proc ACM Comput Graph Interact Tech, 4, pp. 3:1–3:15, 2021.

BibTex

@article{bib:vermeer:2021,
    author       = { Vermeer, Jop and Scandolo, Leonardo and Eisemann, Elmar },    
    title        = { Stochastic-Depth Ambient Occlusion },
    journal      = { Proc ACM Comput Graph Interact Tech },
    volume       = { 4 },
    year         = { 2021 },
    pages        = { 3:1--3:15 },
    doi          = { 10.1145/3451268 },
    dblp         = { journals/pacmcgit/VermeerSE21 },
    url          = { https://publications.graphics.tudelft.nl/papers/93 },
}