SBIR Phase II: Development of ModelGlove - A Virtual Clay Modeling System Using Force/Position Sensor

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目旨在开发一种虚拟粘土系统，该系统由一种正在申请专利的传感器手套(称为ModelGlove)和一个基于物理的模拟引擎组成，该引擎向用户呈现建模粘土的虚拟3D表示。该手套使设计师能够用他或她的手指和手塑造虚拟粘土，就像他或她对物理粘土所做的那样。粘土造型是通用汽车于1914年首创的，至今仍是一种流行的技术。自80年代初S以来，计算机辅助设计市场迅速发展，3DCAD已经成为设计复杂形状的最先进的技术工具。然而，在将物理粘土环境和CAD环境相结合方面所做的工作很少。虚拟粘土旨在融合这些环境，模糊艺术和工程之间的界限，并在开发的所有阶段为设计师提供统一的建模工具。通过推进设计的最新水平，并为设计和建模产品的机械工程师打开新的设计世界，预计将产生广泛的影响。虚拟粘土系统代表了可穿戴计算的重大进步，用户可以直接用手操纵虚拟物体。此外，在设计环境中对粘土进行基于物理的模拟有望在CAD世界开辟新的探索领域。通过不仅让用户控制设计，而且让用户控制模拟环境本身(例如，用户可以控制粘土的软或硬)，这是一种关于模拟和CAD如何发展的全新思维方式。此外，艺术家和工程师将受益于能够观看和破译专家建模人员在虚拟粘土上完成的每一项操作。因此，将物理介质引入数字环境将在设计、评估和分析、测试和协作方面打开无数可能性。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project aims to develop a Virtual Clay system comprised of a patent-pending sensor-enabled glove (called the ModelGlove), and a physics-based simulation engine which presents the user with a virtual 3D representation of modeling clay. The glove enables a designer to mold and shape the virtual clay with his or her fingers and hand, just as he or she would with physical clay. Clay modeling was pioneered by General Motors in 1914, and remains a popular technique. Since the early 80's, the computer aided design (CAD) market has grown dramatically, and 3D CAD has become the most technically-advanced tool for designing complex shapes. However, very little work has been done to merge the physical clay and CAD environments. Virtual Clay aims to fuse these environments, blurring the line between art and engineering and giving designers a unified modeling tool at all stages of development.By advancing the state of the art in design and opening new worlds of design to mechanical engineers designing and modeling products, broad impacts are anticipated. The Virtual Clay system represents a significant advancement in wearable computing, where the user directly manipulates a virtual object with his or her hand. Further, a physics-based simulation of clay in a design environment promises to open new areas of exploration in the CAD world. By giving control to the user of not only the design, but the simulation environment itself (the user can control how soft or hard the clay is, for example), a whole new way of thinking about how simulation and CAD can evolve. Further, artists and engineers will benefit from being able to watch and decipher every manipulation that an expert modeler has completed on the virtual clay. Bringing a physical medium to a digital environment will thus open up numerous possibilities in design, assessment and analysis, testing, and collaboration.