Textures can be used to alter the surface normal of an object. This does not actual shape of the surface -- we are only shading it as if it were a different shape! This technique is called bump mapping. The texture map is treated as a single-valued height function. The value of the function is not actually used, just its partial derivatives. The partial derivatives tell how to alter the true surface normal at each point on the surface to make the object appear as if it were deformed by the height function.

Since the actual shape of the object does not change, the silhouette edge of the object will not change. Bump Mapping also assumes that the Illumination model is applied at every pixel (as in Phong Shading or ray tracing).

Sphere w/Diffuse Texture	Swirly Bump Map	Sphere w/Diffuse Texture & Bump Map