Title :
Shape averaging and its applications to industrial design
Author :
Chen, Shenchang Eric ; Parent, Richard E.
Author_Institution :
Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH, USA
Abstract :
A computer-assisted technique called shape averaging is presented. Shape averaging produces an abstraction of the typical representation from a set of shapes. Since the averaging is assumed to preserve the characteristics of the original shapes, the result is useful in predicting trends in form or extracting stereotypes from a group of related shapes. The technique can be used to create new forms by blending global features of existing unrelated shapes. The syntactic averaging of shapes consisting of 2-D planar polygons or of 3-D objects represented by planar contours is examined. An algorithm is presented to determine the correspondence between polygons defined by arbitrary numbers of vertices. Algorithms to extract the mean, the median, and the mode from the shapes are also introduced. Potential applications of shape averaging in design are illustrated.<>
Keywords :
CAD/CAM; engineering graphics; statistical analysis; 2-D planar polygons; 3-D objects; computer-assisted technique; existing unrelated shapes; global features; industrial design; mean; median; mode; planar contours; representation abstraction; shape averaging; syntactic averaging; trend prediction; Aerodynamics; Aging; Application software; Character generation; Cultural differences; Design optimization; Ergonomics; Humans; Product design; Shape;
Journal_Title :
Computer Graphics and Applications, IEEE