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

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目旨在开发一个虚拟粘土系统，该系统由一个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，该引擎向用户展示建模粘土的虚拟3D表示。这种手套使设计师能够用他或她的手指和手塑造虚拟粘土，就像他或她用物理粘土一样。粘土模型由通用汽车公司于1914年首创，至今仍是一种流行的技术。自80年代初以来，计算机辅助设计（CAD）市场急剧增长，3D CAD已成为设计复杂形状的最先进的技术工具。然而，将物理粘土和CAD环境合并在一起的工作很少。Virtual Clay旨在融合这些环境，模糊艺术和工程之间的界限，并在开发的各个阶段为设计师提供统一的建模工具。通过推进设计艺术的状态和打开设计的机械工程师设计和建模产品的新世界，广泛的影响是预期的。虚拟粘土系统代表了可穿戴计算的重大进步，用户可以直接用他或她的手操纵虚拟物体。此外，在设计环境中基于物理的粘土模拟有望在CAD世界中开辟新的探索领域。通过让用户不仅可以控制设计，还可以控制模拟环境本身（例如，用户可以控制粘土的软硬程度），这是一种思考模拟和CAD如何发展的全新方式。此外，艺术家和工程师将受益于能够观察和破译专家建模师在虚拟粘土上完成的每一个操作。因此，将物理媒介引入数字环境将为设计、评估和分析、测试和协作开辟许多可能性。

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.