The manao project aims at studying how light, matter and shape act together in synergies, at the convergence of Digital Optics and Computer Graphics, providing for more powerful representations of appearance. Such a high-level approach is to contrast with the main trend of modern Computer Graphics to study light, shape and matter separately.

The manao project specifically aims at considering information transfer, first from the real world to the virtual world (acquisition & creation), then from computers to observers (visualization & display). For this purpose, we will target representations, algorithms and unified optical/digital systems that decrease the required computational resources.

The benefit of our approach is two-fold: provide fast communication between the real world (original data, human users and sensors) and the digital 3D world; develop new uses of Computer Graphics for scientists (e.g., Optical Science, Archeology), artists, and industrials.