We present RealFusion, an interactive workflow that supports early stage design ideation in a digital 3D medium. RealFusion is inspired by the practice of found-object-art, wherein new representations are created by composing existing objects. The key motivation behind our approach is direct creation of 3D artifacts during design ideation, in contrast to conventional practice of employing 2D sketching. RealFusion comprises of three creative states where users can (a) repurpose physical objects as modeling components, (b) modify the components to explore different forms, and (c) compose them into a meaningful 3D model. We demonstrate RealFusion using a simple interface that comprises of a depth sensor and a smartphone. To achieve direct and efficient manipulation of modeling elements, we also utilize mid-air interactions with the smartphone. We conduct a user study with novice designers to evaluate the creative outcomes that can be achieved using RealFusion.
RealFusion: An Interactive Workflow for Repurposing Real-World Objects towards Early-stage Creative Ideation
Authors: Cecil Piya, Vinayak, Yunbo Zhang, Karthik Ramani
In Proceedings of Graphics Interface 2016, Victoria, BC, Canada
https://doi.org/10.20380/GI2016.11
cecil
Cecil Piya is a PhD graduate from the school of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. Dr. Piya received his BSc in mechanical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and earned his Doctorate at Purdue, while working as a graduate researcher in the C-Design Lab under Prof. Karthik Ramani. Here, his research explored novel Human-Computer Interactions and Digital Interfaces that leverage spatial gestures, tangible interactions, and pen-and-touch based media to support virtual 3D product design and shape modeling. In the past he also conducted research in areas such as digital shape reconstruction from 3D point clouds, geometric support for additive manufacturing, feature detection in 3D models, object identification in 2D images, and heat transfer.