Categories: Technology

Ground-breaking system for quickly rendering synthetic objects into legacy photographs

A group of students from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated a ground-breaking system that allows a user realistically insert synthetic objects into legacy photographs quickly and easily.

The system requires that the user first annotate an image, pointing out light sources and object boundaries using software-based tools. Once an image in annotated, the system accurately renders synthetic objects placed ‘into’ the photograph, accounting for lighting, shading, reflection, illumination and other individual object properties like transparency, diffuse or specular.

The system has obvious applications in the movie and gaming industry, as well as interior design and user content creation. The video below speaks for itself,

Albizu Garcia

Albizu Garcia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gain -- a marketing technology company that automates the social media and content publishing workflow for agencies and social media managers, their clients and anyone working in teams.

View Comments

  • very cool! I am assuming the objects would be modeled in a different program and inserted? how are theh new materials scaled/degenerated to match the original image quality? I am interested to follow the development of this program and see the far reaching effects that it can and will have.

  • very cool! I am assuming the objects would be modeled in a different program and inserted? how are theh new materials scaled/degenerated to match the original image quality? I am interested to follow the development of this program and see the far reaching effects that it can and will have.

Recent Posts

AI and the Dopamine Trap: How Algorithms Are Rewiring Our Social Cravings

New research shows AI companions can lift mood and teach social skills, but only when…

8 hours ago

Hate speech, deepfakes & false info undermine UN work: comms chief

Hate speech is a launching point for crackdowns on narratives that impede UN agendas: perspective…

8 hours ago

Making Sense brings strategic insight to the SIM Hartford Chapter

On June 4, technology executives gathered at the SIM Hartford chapter presided over by Fariba…

2 days ago

‘Digital disinformation undermines trust in climate & health authorities’: WHO Pan European Commission on Climate & Health

The PECCH is an attempt to persuade us into believing that climate & health policies…

4 days ago

WEF ‘Summer Davos’ in China to tackle transhumanism, AI & One Health agendas

The program agenda for the World Economic Forum's (WEF) 16th Annual Meeting of the New…

1 week ago

10 design and architecture writers to put on your radar this year

It’s easy to get caught up in the visuals—perfectly styled rooms, dramatic before-and-afters, bold architectural…

1 week ago