Photorealistic point cloud generation for computer-generated holography using WebGL

In computer-generated hologram (CGH), interference fringe patterns are calculated numerically. To compute the object light, the point light source method is commonly used, which models a virtual object as a set of point light sources. To convert virtual 3D models into point-based representations, conventional approaches have utilized 3D graphics libraries such as OpenGL. However, these methods often require standalone software installations and are typically limited to the Windows operating system. To address these limitations, we have developed a browser-based point light source generation system using WebGL, enabling easy and platform-independent conversion from virtual objects to point clouds. While our previous implementation used rasterization-based rendering, the generated point clouds lacked photorealism. In this study, we improve upon the previous system by incorporating path tracing as the rendering method, allowing the generation of photorealistic point clouds with accurate reflection effects. Using the proposed system, we computed a high-resolution computer-generated rainbow hologram and successfully reconstructed its corresponding image.