Apparatus and Methods for Wrapping Texture onto the Surface of a Virtual Object

• US 20110169829A1
• Filed: 02/14/2011
• Published: 07/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 3D Systems, Inc. (3D Systems Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Geomagic, Inc. (3D Systems Corporation)
• Inventors: Shannon, Walter C., Berger, Torsten, Chen, Elaine
• Granted Patent: US 8,174,535 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/423
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/001 Texturing; Colouring; Generation of texture or colour inpainting G06T5/77
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/04 Texture mapping
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/00 Manipulating 3D models or images for computer graphics
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/00 Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators image data processing or generation, in general G06T

Abstract

The invention provides techniques for wrapping a two-dimensional texture conformally onto a surface of a three dimensional virtual object within an arbitrarily-shaped, user-defined region. The techniques provide minimum distortion and allow interactive manipulation of the mapped texture. The techniques feature an energy minimization scheme in which distances between points on the surface of the three-dimensional virtual object serve as set lengths for springs connecting points of a planar mesh. The planar mesh is adjusted to minimize spring energy, and then used to define a patch upon which a two-dimensional texture is superimposed. Points on the surface of the virtual object are then mapped to corresponding points of the texture. The invention also features a haptic/graphical user interface element that allows a user to interactively and intuitively adjust texture mapped within the arbitrary, user-defined region.

Claims

1-55. -55. (canceled)

56. A method for wrapping a texture onto a surface of a three-dimensional virtual object, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) selecting an arbitrarily-shaped user-defined region of a surface of a three-dimensional virtual object;

(b) for each of a plurality of locations in the region;

(i) mapping the location in the selected region to a corresponding location in a texture; and

(ii) assigning to the location in the selected region a graphical value associated with the location in the texture; and

(c) graphically rendering the virtual object with the texture applied within the user-defined region.

58. The method of claim 56, further comprising the step of:

(d) modifying a voxel representation of the virtual object according to the graphical values assigned in step (b).

59. The method of claim 56, wherein the texture comprises a tiled pattern.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein no boundary of a tile of the tiled pattern is constrained to align with a boundary of the user-defined region.

61. The method of claim 59,

wherein step (c) comprises graphically rendering the virtual object with the tiled pattern applied within the user-defined region.

62. The method of claim 56, wherein the graphical value is a color value.

63. The method of claim 56, wherein the texture comprises an embossing pattern and wherein the graphical value represents an adjustment along a normal to the surface of the virtual object.

64. The method of claim 63,

wherein step (c) comprises graphically rendering the virtual object with the embossing pattern applied within the user-defined region.

57. (canceled)