CREATING, EDITING, AND QUERYING PARAMETRIC MODELS, E.G., USING NESTED BOUNDING VOLUMES

• US 20140184592A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 07/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Ketch Technology LLC
• Original Assignee: Ketch Technology LLC
• Inventors: Belcher, Daniel
• Application Number:
  US13/839,853
• Publication Number:
  US 20140184592A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/420
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/00 Manipulating 3D models or images for computer graphics
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/12 Bounding box
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/004 Annotating, labelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/012 Dimensioning, tolerancing

Abstract

Technology is disclosed for parametric configuration of an object. The technology brings the visual programming interaction paradigm to the same three-dimensional space occupied by the object itself. A user interface maps parameters that govern an object as interactive control-points on a translucent three-dimensional bounding volume rendered around the object. The user interacts with this interface and the parameters within and on the surface of the bounding volume. Parametric connections between objects are made by links from one bounding volume to another, or from one parameter to another within the same object. The object may contain many child-objects, each represented as a nested bounding volume within the volume of the parent object.

Claims

1. A method performed by a computing device, comprising:

rendering on a display a bounding volume representing a class, and rendering on the bounding volume a class name corresponding to the class;

rendering parameters of the object on the surface of the rendered bounding volume;

receiving, via a first user gesture made relative to the rendered object and parameters, an indication to connect a first data link to a first parameter;

receiving a first value for the connected first parameter; and

using the received first value as a value for first parameter of the class represented by the bounding volume.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving via a second user gesture made relative to the rendered object and parameters, an indication to connect a second data link to a second parameter;

receiving a second value for the connected second parameter; and

using the received second value as a value for second parameter of the class represented by the bounding volume.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising transforming the rendering of the bounding volume according to the received first value.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising compositing the rendering of the bounding volume with at least one real-world object to form an Augmented Reality user interface.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a graph for at least one bounding volume and associating logic with the at least one bounding volume based on the generated graph.

6. A system, comprising:

a processor and one or more memories;

one or more controls that each is an instance of a view that responds to user input;

a rendering engine configured to render and update object geometry and object bounding volumes;

a user interface controller configured to render objects as bounding volumes and receive user input relative to the rendered object; and

a component to topologically order a graph to generate a sorted graph, wherein invoking an update method on the sorted graph causes an update method to be invoked on each node of the graph, thereby validating the objects and causing the objects to be rendered by the rendering engine.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the bounding volume constitutes a user interface for its corresponding object.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein data sent between objects are rendered as links drawn between parameters on a surface of the bounding volume.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein a new parametric object is created by linking and nesting objects into bounding volume clusters.

10. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions, comprising:

instructions for rendering on a display a bounding volume representing a class, and rendering on the bounding volume a class name corresponding to the class;

instructions for rendering parameters of the object on the surface of the rendered bounding volume;

instructions for receiving, via a first user gesture made relative to the rendered object and parameters, an indication to connect a first data link to a first parameter;

instructions for receiving a first value for the connected first parameter; and

instructions for using the received first value as a value for first parameter of the class represented by the bounding volume.