Parallax occlusion mapping

[1] This allows developers of 3D rendering applications to add 3D complexity in textures, which correctly change relative to perspective and with self occlusion in real time (self-shadowing is additionally possible), without sacrificing the processor cycles required to create the same effect with geometry calculations.

[2] Parallax occlusion mapping was first published in 2005 by Zoe Brawley and Natalya Tatarchuk in ShaderX3.

[1] Natalya Tatarchuk conducted presentations of the technology at SIGGRAPH in 2005.

[3] It was used in ATI's 'Toy Shop Demo' to showcase the Radeon X1800's Ultra-Threaded SM 3.0 technology.

[4] It is used in video games and rendering engines such as Unigine,[5] CryEngine 2,[6] and CryEngine 3 and Unreal Engine 4.