Rendering participating media is important for a number of domains, ranging from commercial applications (entertainment, virtual reality) to simulation systems (driving, flying and space simulators) and safety analyses (driving conditions, sign visibility). This article surveys global illumination algorithms for environments including participating media. It reviews both appearance-based and physically-based media methods, including the single scattering and the more general multiple-scattering techniques. The objective of the survey is the characterization of all these methods: Identification of their base techniques, assumptions, limitations and range of utilization. We conclude with some reflections about the suitability of the methods depending on the specific application involved, and possible future research lines.

In this article, we derive a physically-based model for simulating rainbows. Previous techniques for simulating rainbows have used either geometric optics (ray tracing) or Lorenz-Mie theory. Lorenz-Mie theory is by far the most accurate technique as it takes into account optical effects such as dispersion, polarization, interference, and diffraction. These effects are critical for simulating rainbows accurately. However, as Lorenz-Mie theory is restricted to scattering by spherical particles, it cannot be applied to real raindrops which are nonspherical, especially for larger raindrops. We present the first comprehensive technique for simulating the interaction of a wavefront of light with a physically-based water drop shape. Our technique is based on ray tracing extended to account for dispersion, polarization, interference, and diffraction. Our model matches Lorenz-Mie theory for spherical particles, but it also enables the accurate simulation of nonspherical particles. It can simulate many different rainbow phenomena including double rainbows and This research has been partially funded by NSF Project GreenLight (award no. 0821155), a Marie Curie grant from the Seventh Framework Programme (grant agreement no. 251415), the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (TIN2010-21543) and the Gobierno de Aragn (projects OTRI 2009/0411 and CTPP05/09). Authors' addresses: I. Sadeghi (corresponding author), University of California, San Diego; email: iman@graphics.ucsd.edu; A. Munoz, Universidad de Zaragoza; P. Laven, Horley, UK; W. Jarosz, Disney Research Zürich and University of California, San Diego; F. Seron and D. Gutierrez, Universidad de Zaragoza; H. W. Jensen, University of California, San Diego. Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies show this notice on the first page or initial screen of a display along with the full citation. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers, to redistribute to lists, or to use any component of this work in other works requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Permissions may be requested from Publications Dept., ACM, Inc., 2 Penn Plaza, Suite 701, New York, NY 10121-0701 USA, fax +1 (212) 869-0481, or permissions@acm.org. supernumerary bows. We show how the nonspherical raindrops influence the shape of the rainbows, and we provide a simulation of the rare twinned rainbow, which is believed to be caused by nonspherical water drops.

Motion blur is a fundamental cue in the perception of objects in motion. This phenomenon manifests as a visible trail along the trajectory of the object and is the result of the combination of relative motion and light integration taking place in film and electronic cameras. In this work, we analyse the mechanisms that produce motion blur in recording devices and the methods that can simulate it in computer generated images. Light integration over time is one of the most expensive processes to simulate in high-quality renders, as such, we make an in-depth review of the existing algorithms and we categorize them in the context of a formal model that highlights their differences, strengths and limitations. We finalize this report proposing a number of alternative classifications that will help the reader identify the best technique for a particular scenario.

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In recent years, researchers in social cognition have found the “perceptual crossing paradigm” to be both a theoretical and practical advance toward meeting particular challenges. This paradigm has been used to analyze the type of interactive processes that emerge in minimal interactions and it has allowed progress toward understanding of the principles of social cognition processes. In this paper, we analyze whether some critical aspects of these interactions could not have been observed by previous studies. We consider alternative indicators that could complete, or even lead us to rethink, the current interpretation of the results obtained from both experimental and simulated modeling in the fields of social interactions and minimal perceptual crossing. In particular, we discuss the possibility that previous experiments have been analytically constrained to a short-term dynamic type of player response. Additionally, we propose the possibility of considering these experiments from a more suitable framework based on the use and analysis of long-range correlations and fractal dynamics. We will also reveal evidence supporting the idea that social interactions are deployed along many scales of activity. Specifically, we propose that the fractal structure of the interactions could be a more adequate framework to understand the type of social interaction patterns generated in a social engagement.