Parallax occlusion mapping (POM) is an enhancement of the

parallax mapping Parallax mapping (also called offset mapping or virtual displacement mapping) is an enhancement of the bump mapping or normal mapping techniques applied to textures in 3D rendering applications such as video games. To the end user, this means tha ...

technique. Parallax occlusion mapping is used to procedurally create 3D definition in textured surfaces, using a

displacement map Displacement mapping is an alternative computer graphics technique in contrast to bump, normal, and parallax mapping, using a texture or height map to cause an effect where the actual geometric position of points over the textured surface are ' ...

(similar to a topography map) instead of through the generation of new geometry.Brawley, Z., and Tatarchuk, N. 2005. Parallax Occlusion Mapping: Self-Shadowing, Perspective-Correct Bump Mapping Using Reverse Height Map Tracing. In ShaderX3: Advanced Rendering with DirectX and OpenGL, Engel, W., Ed., Charles River Media, pp. 135-154. https://books.google.com/books?id=DgMSb_10l7IC&pg=PA135&dq=parallax+occlusion This allows developers of 3D rendering applications to add 3D complexity in textures, which correctly change relative to perspective and with self

occlusion Occlusion may refer to: Health and fitness * Occlusion (dentistry), the manner in which the upper and lower teeth come together when the mouth is closed * Occlusion miliaria, a skin condition * Occlusive dressing, an air- and water-tight trauma ...

in real time (

self-shadowing Self-Shadowing is a computer graphics lighting effect, used in 3D rendering applications such as computer animation and video games. Self-shadowing allows non-static objects in the environment, such as game characters and interactive objects ...

is additionally possible), without sacrificing the

processor Processor may refer to: Computing Hardware * Processor (computing) **Central processing unit (CPU), the hardware within a computer that executes a program *** Microprocessor, a central processing unit contained on a single integrated circuit (I ...

cycles required to create the same effect with geometry calculations. Parallax occlusion mapping was first published in 2005 by Zoe Brawley and Natalya Tatarchuk in ShaderX3. Natalya Tatarchuk conducted presentations of the technology at

SIGGRAPH SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) is an annual conference on computer graphics (CG) organized by the ACM SIGGRAPH, starting in 1974. The main conference is held in North America; SIGGRAPH Asia ...

in 2005. It was used in

ATI Ati or ATI may refer to: * Ati people, a Negrito ethnic group in the Philippines **Ati language (Philippines), the language spoken by this people group ** Ati-Atihan festival, an annual celebration held in the Philippines *Ati language (China), a ...

's 'Toy Shop Demo' to showcase the

Radeon X1800 The R520 (codenamed Fudo) is a graphics processing unit (GPU) developed by ATI Technologies and produced by TSMC. It was the first GPU produced using a 90 nm photolithography process. The R520 is the foundation for a line of DirectX 9.0c a ...

's Ultra-Threaded SM 3.0 technology. It is used in video games and rendering engines such as

Unigine UNIGINE is a proprietary cross-platform game engine developed by UNIGINE Company used in simulators, virtual reality systems, serious games and visualization. It supports OpenGL 4, Vulkan and DirectX 12. UNIGINE Engine is a core technology f ...

CryEngine 2 CryEngine (stylized as CRYENGINE) is a game engine designed by the German game developer Crytek. It has been used in all of their titles with the initial version being used in ''Far Cry'', and continues to be updated to support new consoles an ...

, and

CryEngine 3 CryEngine (stylized as CRYENGINE) is a game engine designed by the German game developer Crytek. It has been used in all of their titles with the initial version being used in ''Far Cry'', and continues to be updated to support new consoles and ...

and Unreal Engine 4. It has also been used to create

stereoscopic Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the depth perception, illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stere ...

images from single images.

External links

A closer look at POM on gamedev.net

Dachsbacher, C., Tatarchuk, N. Prism Parallax Occlusion Mapping with Accurate Silhouette Generation as a .pdfDachsbacher, C., Tatarchuk, N. Prism Parallax Occlusion Mapping with Accurate Silhouette Generation as a .mov

Parallax Occlusion Mapping in GLSL on sunandblackcat.com

References

{{Reflist Texture mapping Parallax