17-03-2014, 10:32 AM
ABSTRACT
Designing three-dimensional (3D) surfaces is difficult in both the
physical world and in 3D modeling software, requiring background
knowledge and skill. The goal of this work is to make 3D surface
design easier and more accessible through natural and tangible 3D
interaction, taking advantage of users’ proprioceptive senses to help
them understand 3D position, orientation, size, and shape. We hypothesize
that flexible input based on fabric may be suitable for 3D
surface design, because it can be molded and folded into a desired
shape, and because it can be used as a dynamic flexible brush for
3D sketching. We developed Fabric3D, an interactive surface design
system based on 3D sketching with flexible input, to explore
this hypothesis. Through a longitudinal five-part study in which
three domain experts used Fabric3D, we gained insight into the use
of flexible input and 3D sketching for surface design.
INTRODUCTION
3D surface design, the process of envisioning and specifying the
external surfaces of 3D objects such as cars, furniture and garments,
requires much background knowledge and skill in order to make a
desired surface. For designing surfaces in the real world, such as
when making garments, the designer needs to know how to drape
fabric, how to make fabric fit to the human body, and how to use a
sewing machine, among other things.
To help lower the learning curve, we have been exploring more
natural 3D interaction for surface design. In our exploratory study
of how users intuitively communicated different 3D surfaces [2],
we repeatedly observed 3D sketching actions. 3D sketching is an
interaction used in virtual art applications as well [1, 4].
In order to handle the variety of surfaces a user could want, we
chose to explore flexible input based on fabric. We hypothesized
that a users proprioception, or understanding of a muscle’s location
based on other muscles in the body [3] would make it easier to
transfer ideas into the virtual world through this tangible medium.
The combination of 3D sketching and flexible input for surface
design, which we began to develop in our previous work on the
Fabric3D system [2], allows fabric to act as a malleable brush that
can be used to paint surfaces in 3D space. We wanted to explore and
evaluate the system for surface design applications in a longitudinal
study with domain experts. We found several themes connected to
flexible input, including trade-offs between 2D and 3D sketches,
playfulness, and different design challenges in flexible input.
Designing three-dimensional (3D) surfaces is difficult in both the
physical world and in 3D modeling software, requiring background
knowledge and skill. The goal of this work is to make 3D surface
design easier and more accessible through natural and tangible 3D
interaction, taking advantage of users’ proprioceptive senses to help
them understand 3D position, orientation, size, and shape. We hypothesize
that flexible input based on fabric may be suitable for 3D
surface design, because it can be molded and folded into a desired
shape, and because it can be used as a dynamic flexible brush for
3D sketching. We developed Fabric3D, an interactive surface design
system based on 3D sketching with flexible input, to explore
this hypothesis. Through a longitudinal five-part study in which
three domain experts used Fabric3D, we gained insight into the use
of flexible input and 3D sketching for surface design.
INTRODUCTION
3D surface design, the process of envisioning and specifying the
external surfaces of 3D objects such as cars, furniture and garments,
requires much background knowledge and skill in order to make a
desired surface. For designing surfaces in the real world, such as
when making garments, the designer needs to know how to drape
fabric, how to make fabric fit to the human body, and how to use a
sewing machine, among other things.
To help lower the learning curve, we have been exploring more
natural 3D interaction for surface design. In our exploratory study
of how users intuitively communicated different 3D surfaces [2],
we repeatedly observed 3D sketching actions. 3D sketching is an
interaction used in virtual art applications as well [1, 4].
In order to handle the variety of surfaces a user could want, we
chose to explore flexible input based on fabric. We hypothesized
that a users proprioception, or understanding of a muscle’s location
based on other muscles in the body [3] would make it easier to
transfer ideas into the virtual world through this tangible medium.
The combination of 3D sketching and flexible input for surface
design, which we began to develop in our previous work on the
Fabric3D system [2], allows fabric to act as a malleable brush that
can be used to paint surfaces in 3D space. We wanted to explore and
evaluate the system for surface design applications in a longitudinal
study with domain experts. We found several themes connected to
flexible input, including trade-offs between 2D and 3D sketches,
playfulness, and different design challenges in flexible input.