Proposal for Final Project ---
                                Image-based smoke/steam

                                  Xia Liu

I. Objective

The overall goal is to find a technique which allows one to take pictures
containing smoke/steam and applies the effect of smoke/fog to a new image.
Because the shape and density of the natural smoke/steam are changing
constantly, either the technique must work on single image with
the background being known, or a way to grab images of the same smoke
before many backings must be found.


II. Major Milestones

Nov.28--Nov.29: Implement the method mentioned in "Blue Screen Matting"
                paper as the technique to see what the result looks like,
                try to find the problem with pulling smoke map out and why.

Nov.30--Dec.11: Try to find the technique which decomposes the image into
                background and foreground(smoke) map where the background
                in the image is known.
                1. Studying and Exploring the techniques used in smoke
                   modeling, what's the interaction of light with smoke,
                   how they include the interaction in the model to account
                   for the diminishing and increasing of the light intensity
                   traveling through the smoke.
                2. Trying to combine the mattting technique, the technique
                   used in Nayar's paper in computing airlight color and
                   the above techniques to find the decomposing technique.
                3. Hopefully some implementation could be done in the
                   process.

Dec.12--Dec.16: Implement and test the technique if possible, or improve
                or change the technique.

Dec.17--Dec.19: Finish the paper.


III. Recent Related Research

1. A.R. Smith, etc. "Blue Screen Matting".
2. D.E. Zongker, etc. "Environment Matting and Compositing".
3. S.K. Nayar, etc. "Vision in Bad Weather".
4. S.K. Nayar, etc. "Chromatic Framework for Vision in Bad Weather".
5. Jos Stam, etc. "Depicting Fire and Other Gaseous Phenomena Using
   Diffusion Processes".
6. Jos Stam, etc. "Visual Simulation of Smoke".