Radiosity

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A method in computer graphics that simulates the diffuse transfer of light between surfaces to create realistic lighting effects
2. A technique used to model how light bounces off surfaces indirectly to achieve natural illumination in digital imaging
3. An approach in rendering that calculates the global distribution of light reflecting within a scene to enhance visual realism

Etymology: Radiosity is a technical coinage from the twentieth century, built from the English "radiate" and the suffix "-ity," which turns an adjective or verb idea into a noun of quality or measure. It stems from "radiant" and the Latin "radiare," "to shine," from "radius," "ray." The word has no ancient history; the physics it names was developed in the 1950s and 1960s, when heat engineers used it for the rate at which a surface emits radiant energy. Its meaning shifted in computer graphics in the early 1980s. Researchers adapted the term to describe a method that calculates how light bounces repeatedly between diffuse surfaces in a scene, so that a corner catches reflected glow from a nearby wall. That is the sense the word carries today, giving rendered images their soft, realistic lighting.

Synonyms: radiance, emission