Real-world relativity: image-based special relativistic visualization

This paper describes a novel rendering technique for special relativistic visualization. It is an image-based method which allows to render high speed flights through real-world scenes filmed by a standard camera. The relativistic effects on image generation are determined by the relativistic aberration of light, the Doppler effect, and the searchlight effect. These account for changes of apparent geometry, color and brightness of the objects. It is shown how the relativistic effects can be taken into account by a modification of the plenoptic function. Therefore, all known image-based nonrelativistic rendering methods can easily be extended to incorporate relativistic rendering. Our implementation allows interactive viewing of relativistic panoramas and the production of movies which show super-fast travel. Examples in the form of snapshots and film sequences are included.