Säteensekvenssiray

Säteensekvenssiray, often shortened to SSR, refers to a rendering technique used in computer graphics to simulate global illumination effects. It works by tracing light rays from the camera into the scene. When a ray intersects an object, it can be reflected, refracted, or absorbed. The SSR algorithm then traces new rays from the intersection point to simulate these interactions.

This process allows for the realistic depiction of indirect lighting, specular reflections, and refractions that would be difficult or computationally expensive to achieve with traditional rasterization methods. For instance, SSR can accurately model how light bounces off a shiny surface and illuminates nearby objects, or how light passing through a glass object distorts the view behind it.

The complexity of SSR lies in managing the potentially vast number of rays that need to be traced. To optimize performance, various techniques are employed, such as limiting the maximum recursion depth of ray tracing, using screen-space approximations, or employing probabilistic methods. Despite these optimizations, SSR can still be a demanding technique, often requiring significant processing power.

SSR is widely used in video games and other real-time rendering applications to enhance visual fidelity. It contributes to creating more immersive and believable virtual environments by simulating the complex behavior of light in a scene. The effectiveness of SSR can vary depending on the scene's geometry and the complexity of its materials.