Comparing Appearances of Fibers

One or more processor-readable storage devices containing processor readable code for programming one or more processors to perform a method comprising the steps of:

• providing a computational model describing the interaction of light with fibers;
• obtaining a first set of fiber parameters for use with the model, said first set of fiber parameters describing a first plurality of fibers;
• obtaining a second set of fiber parameters for use with the model, said second set of fiber parameters describing a second plurality of fibers;
• simulating, using the model and the first set of fiber parameters, how light would interact with the first plurality of fibers, and rendering, based on the result of the simulation, a first synthetic image showing the appearance of the first plurality of fibers;
• simulating, using the model and the second set of fiber parameters, how light would interact with the second plurality of fibers, and rendering, based on the result of the simulation, a second synthetic image showing the appearance of the second plurality of fibers;
• and
• displaying the first synthetic image and the second synthetic image to a user.

An image processing apparatus comprising:

• a memory;
• a display screen;
• and
• at least one processor adapted to:
• obtain a first set of fiber parameters for a computational model of interactions between light and fibers, said first set of fiber parameters describing a first plurality of fibers;
• obtain a second set of fiber parameters for the computational model, said second set of fiber parameters describing a second plurality of fibers;
• simulate, using the model and the first set of fiber parameters, how light would interact with the first plurality of fibers, and render, based on the result of the simulation, a first synthetic image showing the appearance of the first plurality of fibers;
• simulate, using the model and the second set of fiber parameters, how light would interact with the second plurality of fibers, and render, based on the result of the simulation, a second synthetic image showing the appearance of the second plurality of fibers;
• and
• at least one of:
• store the rendered first and second synthetic images in the memory;
• and
• display the first synthetic image and the second synthetic image on the display screen.