Shape Modeling with Sketched Feature Lines in Immersive 3D Environments

Immersive 3D environments are used in virtual product creation to support designers during the design process. Various approaches exist that focus on immersive sketching techniques, as sketching is a prominent technique in the early phases of product design. This thesis addresses the question whether automatic shape creation from sketched input strokes in an immersive 3D environment supports the sketching process in these early design stages. For this purpose, model creation and deformation algorithms of the desktop sketch-based modeling application FiberMesh [NISA07] were transferred to an immersive 3D environment and interaction techniques were adapted. A comparative user study was conducted among twelve design students and professional designers. Comparison was made between line-based sketching in a 3D environment and sketch-based modeling, both in a 3D and 2D environment. The analysis of the study yielded few differences between the conditions, but two findings were made: The usability for a creative sketching task was perceived as higher for line-based sketching in an immersive 3D environment than for the provided sketch-based modeling in the same environment. The shape modeling in the immersive 3D environment was perceived as more stimulating and attractive than under the 2D condition. The thesis was written at Fraunhofer-Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology (IPK), Berlin.