- The author critiques Screen-Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO) in games, arguing it often produces unrealistic darkening in corners due to misconceptions about real-world lighting.
- Photographic evidence from real apartment corners shows that perceived darkening is often subtle or caused by factors like soft shadows or Mach banding, not just ambient occlusion.
- Graphs of pixel brightness across edges reveal minimal darkening effects in many real-world corners, contradicting exaggerated SSAO renderings.
- The author suggests SSAO should be used sparingly, as prominent edge-darkening in real life usually occurs only when surfaces are already darkened by other lighting factors.
- The post includes technical details on photography methods and code for generating brightness graphs, emphasizing the need for more accurate data in graphics research.