Relief mapping (computer graphics)

Okay kiddo, you know how sometimes when you look at a picture or a video game, everything looks flat and kind of boring? Relief mapping is a way to make things look more realistic and 3D, like they're popping out of the screen!

So imagine you have a flat picture of a brick wall. But with relief mapping, you can make it look like there are actual bricks sticking out of the screen. How do we do that? Well, we use math and computer magic!

Relief mapping works by making a 2D image look like it has depth. We use something called a height map, which is basically a way to code how high or low different parts of the picture should be. So, for our brick wall, we might use a height map that shows where each brick starts and ends.

Once we have our height map, we can use it to change how the picture looks when we move around it or change the lighting. When you move, the height map tells the computer which parts of the picture should be closer or farther away, so it looks like you're really walking around a 3D wall. And when you change the lighting, the height map tells the computer which parts of the picture should be shadowed or brighter, so it looks like the bricks are popping out even more!

So there you have it kiddo, relief mapping is a way to make pictures or video games look more realistic and 3D by using a special height map to add depth and texture to the image. Pretty cool, huh?