diff --git a/src/ambient_occlusion.cpp b/src/ambient_occlusion.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..79e933c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ambient_occlusion.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#include "default_types.h"
+#include <igl/ambient_occlusion.h>
+#include <nanobind/nanobind.h>
+#include <nanobind/eigen/dense.h>
+
+namespace nb = nanobind;
+using namespace nb::literals;
+
+namespace pyigl
+{
+  // Core (embree-free) ambient occlusion: builds an AABB over (V,F) and shoots
+  // rays with libigl's own intersector, so it is available in every wheel
+  // regardless of whether the embree module was built.
+  auto ambient_occlusion(
+    const nb::DRef<const Eigen::MatrixXN> &V,
+    const nb::DRef<const Eigen::MatrixXI> &F,
+    const nb::DRef<const Eigen::MatrixXN> &P,
+    const nb::DRef<const Eigen::MatrixXN> &N,
+    const int num_samples)
+  {
+    Eigen::VectorXN S;
+    igl::ambient_occlusion(V, F, P, N, num_samples, S);
+    return S;
+  }
+}
+
+void bind_ambient_occlusion(nb::module_ &m)
+{
+  m.def(
+    "ambient_occlusion",
+    &pyigl::ambient_occlusion,
+    "V"_a,
+    "F"_a,
+    "P"_a,
+    "N"_a,
+    "num_samples"_a,
+    R"(Compute ambient occlusion per given point for a mesh (V,F).
+
+This is the embree-free implementation from igl::core; for the (typically
+faster) embree-accelerated version see igl.embree.ambient_occlusion.
+
+@param[in] V  #V by 3 list of mesh vertex positions
+@param[in] F  #F by 3 list of mesh triangle indices into rows of V
+@param[in] P  #P by 3 list of origin points
+@param[in] N  #P by 3 list of origin normals
+@param[in] num_samples  number of rays to shoot per point (e.g. 1000)
+@return S  #P list of ambient occlusion values between 1 (fully occluded) and
+  0 (not occluded))");
+}
diff --git a/tests/test_all.py b/tests/test_all.py
index 370c7431..a6d7f120 100644
--- a/tests/test_all.py
+++ b/tests/test_all.py
@@ -1791,3 +1791,21 @@ def test_resolve_duplicated_faces():
     F = np.array([[0, 1, 2], [0, 1, 2], [0, 1, 2], [3, 4, 5]], dtype=np.int64)
     F2, J = igl.resolve_duplicated_faces(F)
     assert set(map(tuple, F2.tolist())) == {(3, 4, 5)}
+
+
+def test_ambient_occlusion():
+    # Core (embree-free) ambient occlusion available directly on `igl`.
+    V, F = igl.icosahedron()
+    N = igl.per_vertex_normals(V, F)
+    P = V + 1e-4 * N
+
+    S = igl.ambient_occlusion(V, F, P, N, 256)
+    assert S.shape == (V.shape[0],)
+    assert np.all(S >= 0.0) and np.all(S <= 1.0)
+
+    # A convex mesh sampled along outward normals occludes nothing.
+    assert S.mean() < 0.05
+    # Flipping the normals inward makes the same points substantially occluded.
+    S_in = igl.ambient_occlusion(V, F, P, -N, 256)
+    assert S_in.mean() > 0.1
+    assert S_in.mean() > S.mean()
diff --git a/tutorial/tut-chapter1.ipynb b/tutorial/tut-chapter1.ipynb
index 65f3647b..26283d30 100644
--- a/tutorial/tut-chapter1.ipynb
+++ b/tutorial/tut-chapter1.ipynb
@@ -402,21 +402,7 @@
    "execution_count": null,
    "metadata": {},
    "outputs": [],
-   "source": [
-    "v, f = igl.read_triangle_mesh(os.path.join(root_folder, \"data\", \"bunny_small.off\"))\n",
-    "\n",
-    "## Select a vertex from which the distances should be calculated\n",
-    "vs = np.array([0])\n",
-    "##All vertices are the targets\n",
-    "vt = np.arange(v.shape[0])\n",
-    "\n",
-    "d = igl.exact_geodesic(v, f, vs, vt)#, fs, ft)\n",
-    "\n",
-    "strip_size = 0.02\n",
-    "##The function should be 1 on each integer coordinate\n",
-    "c = np.abs(np.sin((d / strip_size * np.pi)))\n",
-    "plot(v, f, c, shading={\"wireframe\": False})"
-   ]
+   "source": "v, f = igl.read_triangle_mesh(os.path.join(root_folder, \"data\", \"bunny_small.off\"))\n\n## Select a vertex from which the distances should be calculated\nvs = np.array([0])\n##All vertices are the targets\nvt = np.arange(v.shape[0])\n\nd = igl.exact_geodesic(v, f, VS=vs, VT=vt)\n\nstrip_size = 0.02\n##The function should be 1 on each integer coordinate\nc = np.abs(np.sin((d / strip_size * np.pi)))\nplot(v, f, c, shading={\"wireframe\": False})"
   }
  ],
  "metadata": {
@@ -440,4 +426,4 @@
  },
  "nbformat": 4,
  "nbformat_minor": 2
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file