Shape and Spatially-Varying BRDFs from Photometric Stereo

Dan B. Goldman, Brian Curless, Aaron Hertzmann, Steven M. Seitz

Abstract: This paper describes a photometric stereo method designed for surfaces with spatially-varying BRDFs, including surfaces with both varying diffuse and specular properties. Our method builds on the observation that most objects are composed of a small number of fundamental materials. This approach recovers not only the shape but also material BRDFs and weight maps, yielding compelling results for a wide variety of objects. We also show examples of interactive lighting and editing operations made possible by our method.