In [[computer graphics]], '''relief mapping''' is a [[texture mapping]] technique first introduced in 2000<ref>{{cite book|author=Oliveira, Manuel M. and Bishop, Gary and McAllister, David|title=Proceedings of the 27th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques - SIGGRAPH '00 |chapter=Relief texture mapping |year=2000|pages=359–368|doi=10.1145/344779.344947 |isbn=1581132085 |s2cid=598957 |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1145/344779.344947}}</ref> used to render the surface details of three-dimensional objects accurately and efficiently.<ref>{{cite journal|title='Real-time relief mapping on arbitrary polygonal surfaces'book|author=Policarpo, F., Oliveira, M. M., Comba, J. L. D.|journaltitle=Proceedings of the 2005 Symposiumsymposium on Interactive 3D Graphicsgraphics and Gamesgames |chapter=Real-time relief mapping on arbitrary polygonal surfaces |year=2005|pages=155–162|doi=10.1145/1053427.1053453 |isbn=1595930132 |s2cid=3445302 |chapter-url=http://www.inf.ufrgs.br/~comba/papers/2005/rtrm-i3d05.pdf}}</ref> It can produce accurate depictions of [[Hidden surface determination|self-occlusion]], [[self-shadowing]], and parallax.<ref>{{cite journalbook|author=Policarpo, F., Oliveira, M. M.|title='Relief Mapping of Non-Height-Field Surface Details|journal=Proceedings of the 2006 symposium on Interactive 3D graphics and games - SI3D '06 |chapter=Relief mapping of non-height-field surface details |year=2006|page=55 |doi=10.1145/1111411.1111422 |isbn=159593295X |s2cid=11331719 |chapter-url=http://www.inf.ufrgs.br/~oliveira/pubs_files/Policarpo_Oliveira_RTM_multilayer_I3D2006.pdf|accessdate=18 February 2011}}</ref> It is a form of short-distance [[Ray tracing (graphics)|raytraceray tracing]] done in a [[pixel shader]].{{citation needed|date=February 2011}} Relief mapping is highly comparable in both function and approach to another displacement texture mapping technique, [[Parallax occlusion mapping]], considering that they both rely on raytracesray tracing, though the two are not to be confused with each other, as parallax occlusion mapping uses reverse heightmap tracing.
