An Origami Playing Simulator in the Virtual Space

A virtual manipulation system for origami (paper folding) is described. A piece of paper defined in a computer can be deformed interactively by picking and moving a corner vertex of a paper face on a graphic screen using a mouse. Three kinds of folding operations and a curving operation transform the paper into a three-dimensional figure made of flat or curved surfaces. The roundness of the curved surfaces is calculated in real-time by minimizing an elastic energy function. The simulated paper has traditional Japanese decoration applied as a texture to give a more realistic appearance. It is rendered with shading in real-time.