Unlike ray tracing, which follows a single beam of light throughout a virtual scene, path tracing follows the light as it bounces about an area, more accurately simulating how it works in the actual world. It controls how neighbouring surfaces reflect or absorb light, resulting in physically correct soft shadows that more readily persuade our brains that we’re looking at a natural, real-life image. And, naturally, humans viewing images as more realistic is an advancement that the game industry will follow without hesitation. Path tracing has been utilised in Hollywood for decades, but it was a tedious and expensive procedure that couldn’t be done on consumer equipment or in anything near to real-time.
