Patent attributes
Methods, devices, and computer program products are provided for rendering selective light field representations for new images of a scene by extending the plenoptic function range to include a null radiance term such that rays characterized by the extended plenoptic function L(x, y, z, θ, ϕ) may return the null radiance term to denote that an instantiator should use a non-light field model or rendering engine to generate an appropriate replacement for that ray. Multiple viewers can be grouped based upon viewer behavior and/or virtual viewpoint within the scene. Round-trip time for sending/receiving communications between a server or processor and one or more user devices, as well as viewer behavior, can be used to predict for which light rays the corresponding light field data needs to be transmitted based on a probability that the light ray will be called upon during near-future rendering for a user.
