zPots : A Virtual Pottery Experience Through Spatial Interactions Using the Leap Motion Device

by | Mar 7, 2014

Authors: Vinayak, Karthik Ramani, Kevin Lee Jr., Raja Jasti
Proceedings of the ACM CHI' 14 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing System (CHI EA'14) April 26- May 1, Toronto, Canada.

We present zPots, an application for gesture-free hand-based design of virtual pottery enabled by the Leap Motion device. With zPots, a user can shape and color 3D pots by moving bare hands in the air with minimal or no training. Unlike large-space hand-and-body movements required by depth cameras such as the Kinect, the use of the Leap motion device facilitates close range 3D interactions collocated with the personal computer. We demonstrate our application as a synergistic combination of novel spatial interactions and tool metaphors that cater to engaging and realistic experiences while supporting creativity in 3D shape conceptualization and modeling.

RepImage

zPots is available on Leap Airspace. To download, visit:

https://airspace.leapmotion.com/apps/zpots/windows

This work is result of a collaboration between the C Design Lab at Purdue and zeroUI (www.zeroui.com)

vinayak

vinayak

Vinayak received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University in December 2015. The central theme of his research is the expression of design intent towards supporting early phase idea generation for product form exploration. During his Ph.D. at the C-Design Lab, he investigated symbolic and geometric interpretations of hand gestures, hand grasp, and arm movements for mid-air shape conceptualization. He extended these ideas to the tangible interactions for quick design ideation using hand-held mobile devices. Currently, he is a post-doctoral scholar in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University where he continues working at the C-Design Lab. His current research involves building systems for collaborative design using mobile technology.   Personal Webpage: https://sites.google.com/site/fvinayak1/