Light and Skin Interactions

Chapter 7. First Principles Approach

Different levels of abstraction can be used in the design of biophysically based local lighting models. In theory, one would like to use the lowest possible level of abstraction so that even small perturbations in the biophysical processes can be accounted for. In practice, the appropriate abstraction level is usually tied to data availability. After all, a detailed model described by many parameters would not be useful if there is no reliable data to be assigned to these parameters. First principles models attempt to work on the lowest level of abstraction for which there is available data. For instance, instead of using a volumetric absorption coefficient for a given tissue, their formulation can incorporate ...