On real-time ray tracing

Abstract

Rendering of increasingly complex and detailed objects and scenes, with physically correct light simulation, is an important problem for many fields ranging from medical imaging to computer games. While even the latest graphics processing units are unable to render truly massive models consisting of hundreds of millions of primitives, an algorithm known as ray tracing – which by its very nature approximates light transport – can be used to solve such problems. Ray tracing is a simple but powerful method known to produce high image quality, but it is also known for its slow execution speed. This thesis examines parts of the research made to bring ray tracing into the interactive sphere. Specifically, it explores ray-triangle intersections, ray coherency, as well as kd-tree building and traversal. Even though these issues are delved into in the context of interactive graphics, the insights provided by the analyzed literature will also translate to other domains.

Asiasanat:ray tracing, kd-tree