Patents by Inventor Joseph E. Demers

Joseph E. Demers has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method and system for implementing real time soft shadows using penumbra maps and occluder maps
    Patent number: 7508390
    Abstract: A method for rendering a shadow in a 3 D scene includes generating a penumbra map using a z-buffer and generating an occluder map using the z-buffer. The penumbra map and the occluder map are projected into a 3 D scene to render at least one shadow having a penumbra region and an umbra region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2009
    Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
    Inventor: Joseph E. Demers
  • Depth-of-field effects using texture lookup
    Patent number: 6975329
    Abstract: A graphical processing unit (GPU) and methods for rendering a three-dimensional (3D) scene generated in a field of view having in-focus and out-of-focus regions on a two-dimensional (2D) screen region of pixels are described. One method includes initially rendering the scene to create color and depth texture maps and creating mip-map layers for the color texture map. The method further comprises subsequently rendering the scene by, for each pixel: creating a mip-map layer selection value as a function of a depth of the pixel from the depth texture map, generating a color value by interpolation using color values from at least one of the mip-map layers chosen according to the mip-map layer selection value, and setting a color of the pixel to the generated color texture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2005
    Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
    Inventors: Rui M. Bastos, Stephen D. Lew, Curtis A. Beeson, Joseph E. Demers, Jr.
  • Depth-of-field effects using texture lookup
    Publication number: 20040109004
    Abstract: Methods for rendering a three-dimensional (3D) scene generated in a field of view having in-focus and out-of-focus regions on a two-dimensional (2D) screen region of pixels are described. One method includes initially rendering the scene to create color and depth texture maps and creating mip-map layers for the color texture map. The method further comprises subsequently rendering the scene by, for each pixel: creating a mip-map layer selection value as a function of a depth of the pixel from the depth texture map, generating a color value by interpolation using color values from at least one of the mip-map layers chosen according to the mip-map layer selection value, and setting a color of the pixel to the generated color texture. A graphical processing unit (GPU) for rendering a three-dimensional (3D) scene generated in a field of view having in-focus and out-of-focus regions on a two-dimensional (2D) screen region of pixels is also described.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2002
    Publication date: June 10, 2004
    Inventors: Rui M. Bastos, Stephen D. Lew, Curtis A. Beeson, Joseph E. Demers