Description du projet
Nous commençons à voir la lumière dans des domaines aussi variés que les sciences de l’environnement et la biologie
Les photons sont de minuscules sondes quantiques du monde qui nous entoure. La façon dont ces paquets de lumière sont réfléchis, réfractés ou absorbés par les matériaux situés sur leur passage peut être exploitée pour identifier les matériaux eux-mêmes. Cependant, pour «filtrer» l’infinité d’autres choses dans l’image littérale et métaphorique, nous devons savoir ce que sont ces choses et comment elles modifient la lumière. Ce problème dit inverse – qui consiste à revenir d’une mesure indirecte à une mesure pertinente à partir de la relation connue entre les deux – est assez complexe mais vital dans des domaines allant de l’imagerie satellite et de la climatologie à la microscopie de spécimens biologiques. Le projet UNRAVEL, financé par l’UE, développe des méthodes d’infographie qui intègrent ces ponts cachés entre des paramètres illimités et la lumière pour permettre aux scientifiques de pratiquement tous les domaines d’analyser des images complexes et d’en extraire les paramètres pertinents.
Objectif
Earth climate research crucially depends on measurements of the atmospheric distribution of CO2, which is largely obtained using satellites. But satellites cannot directly measure CO2—they capture photographs at different wavelengths that must be mathematically processed to obtain this information. Current methods for solving this inverse problem are unaware of many aspects of the images including topography, cloud shape, shadowing, etc. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has identified the resulting errors as the main cause of discrepancies between different climate sensitivity models.
This proposal in the area of computer graphics introduces methods for inverting the physics of light at unprecedented scales that will address these inaccuracies. However, the scope of our contribution extends far beyond climate modeling: it will have a revolutionary impact on all scientific disciplines that involve the analysis of images, including biology, computer vision, architecture, and many others.
In this project,
- we will establish the first framework for inverting light simulations with billions of parameters.
To demonstrate its generality, and to realize the impact of this framework, we will specialize it to three areas:
- we will develop the first invertible atmospheric optics simulator for earth climate monitoring that accounts for 3D structures, addressing severe inaccuracies of current methods.
- we will create an invertible virtual microscope that will open the door to fundamentally new reconstruction techniques in the area of biology.
- we will design architectural light simulations that are able to adapt buildings so that they make ideal use of naturally available daylight.
To achieve these goals, we must unravel the messy physics of light to either reveal or control the properties of visible and invisible objects. Our approach will solve this impossible-seeming problem at large scales with substantial impact across disciplines.
Champ scientifique
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringsatellite technology
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesplanetary geology
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligencecomputer vision
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsmicroscopy
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
Thème(s)
Régime de financement
ERC-STG - Starting GrantInstitution d’accueil
1015 Lausanne
Suisse