Hybrid simulation for creating realistic scenes for signature assessment

Abstract

To create a complete virtual scene with sufficient fidelity so it can be used for signature/camouflage assessment turns out to be complicated. Small differences in scene parameters can have a huge impact on the outcome and parameters are often unknown, which makes comparison with real environments/scenes difficult. Instead of fully virtual scenes we explore ‘hybrid’ or ‘composite’ methods in which a virtual target is simulated in the context of recorded imagery. It turns out that such techniques can generate highly realistic scenes. Here, we explored and compared various methods to create a virtual target: i) small physical models of the target, ii) Material Capture (matcap) in which a probe sphere is recorded in the scene and iii) light field measurements in combination with BRDF. Alongside the virtual target we collect images of the real target in field trials to be used for comparison and evaluation. We discuss the results and compare the different methods. Certain methods seem more applicable to derive a robust measure of the signature of a given target (e.g. the physical model and ‘matcap’), while others seem more appropriate for deriving and testing new camouflage designs and concepts (e.g. light field method).