Virtual reality inspection and painting with measured BRDFs

Abstract

This is a virtual reality (VR) painting application that enables the user to paint on 3D models with real measured materials, much like in the physical world. A scanned physical object can be imported into the VR application, and the user can paint on the surface of the object with a virtual hand-controlled paint brush. The user is presented with several paint buckets, each containing a material known from the physical world. These materials are measured bidirectional reflectance distribution functions (BRDFs) of real physical materials. The materials and objects present in VR are thus represented as they would be in the physical world, and the user can control both the environment lighting and a single light source. The application enables analog artists to apply their skills directly on a digital model and it enables engineers to directly inspect BRDFs in a fast and intuitive way. Figure 1 is a screenshot from the application showing models that have been painted with BRDFs.