ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Blinn–Phong reflection model

The Blinn-Phong Reflection Model is a way of understanding how light bounces off of an object and creates the colors and brightness that we see. Imagine you have a shiny new toy car. When you shine a light on it, some of the light will bounce off of the car in many different directions.

Now, the Blinn-Phong model helps us understand the color and brightness of the light that bounces off of the toy car. It says that the color and brightness depends on three things:

1. Ambient Light - This is the light that is everywhere, all around us. Even when it's dark, there is still some light around us. The ambient light is like the background.

2. Diffuse Light - This is the light that bounces off the surface of the toy car and shines in many directions. The more rough the surface is, the more diffuse light is produced.

3. Specular Light - This is the light that reflects off the surface of the toy car in a very particular way. A shiny surface produces more specular light.

So, when you shine a light on the toy car, the Blinn-Phong model helps us understand how the combination of these three sources of light produce the color and brightness that we see. It helps us make better computer graphics by simulating how light works in the real world.