Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage· 2026Q1
Real-time Lighting from Complex Luminaires
- 0citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
A new method pre-calculates complex luminaire lighting, including caustic effects from antique glass, into a Neural Radiance Cache (NRC) for real-time rendering in any 3D environment.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Develops a method to pre-calculate illumination from complex luminaires, preserving high-frequency details like caustics.
- Stores pre-calculated lighting data in a Neural Radiance Cache (NRC) independent of the 3D environment.
- Enables real-time, interactive rendering of realistic lighting effects, including those from antique glass distortions.
- Implements the NRC approach as a material within Unreal Engine for easy integration into 3D projects.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Simulating the lighting from complex luminaires in real time is difficult due to their constituent elements, which alter the path of light from the source to the device's exit. This is particularly true for historical luminaires such as lanterns and street lamps, which use antique glass whose distortions produce caustic effects that are difficult to reproduce. In this paper, we present a method for pre-calculating the illumination produced by any type of luminaire in its surrounding volume, preserving its high-frequency details such as caustics and storing it in a Neural Radiance Cache (NRC). This cache is independent of the 3D environment in which the luminaire is placed and can therefore be used in any 3D rendering project. We also propose an implementation of our approach in the Unreal Engine real-time 3D creation tool , in the form of a material, which allows our NRC to be used without modifying the 3D engine and provides interactive and realistic rendering of the results.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, 2026 · DOI ↗
Continue with a free account
Ask the paper: 3 free questions a day about this paper; save it, get its citation, new summaries every day for your field. Takeaways are Premium.
Continue free on the webSign in with Google or Apple; no card needed. You come back to this paper.
On your phone:
Field: Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design
Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided DesignComputer Science