Eikonal Fields for Refractive Novel-View Synthesis
This addresses the challenge of novel-view synthesis for refractive and reflective objects, which is important for applications in computer graphics and vision, representing a novel method for a known bottleneck.
The paper tackles the problem of generating novel-view images from 2D images of refractive and reflective objects by optimizing a 3D-varying Index of Refraction field and tracing light through it using eikonal light transport laws, resulting in a method that handles complex light bending effects.
We tackle the problem of generating novel-view images from collections of 2D images showing refractive and reflective objects. Current solutions assume opaque or transparent light transport along straight paths following the emission-absorption model. Instead, we optimize for a field of 3D-varying Index of Refraction (IoR) and trace light through it that bends toward the spatial gradients of said IoR according to the laws of eikonal light transport.