Sit & Relax: Interactive Design of Body-Supporting Surfaces

Information

• Publication Type: Journal Paper with Conference Talk
• Workgroup(s)/Project(s):
  • MAKE-IT-FAB: Modeling of Shapes for Personal Fabrication
  • Computational Design of Geometric Materials
• Date: October 2018
• Journal: Computer Graphics Forum
• Volume: 37
• Open Access: yes
• Number: 7
• Location: Hong Kong
• Lecturer: Kurt Leimer
• Event: Pacific Graphics 2018
• DOI: 10.1111/cgf.13573
• Call for Papers: Call for Paper
• Conference date: 8. October 2018 – 11. October 2018
• Pages: 349 – 359
• Keywords: interactive modeling, interactive design, digital fabrication

Abstract

We propose a novel method for interactive design of well-fitting body-supporting surfaces that is driven by the pressure distribution on the body's surface.

Our main contribution is an interactive modeling system that utilizes captured body poses and computes an importance field that is proportional to the pressure distribution on the body for a given pose. This distribution indicates where the body should be supported in order to easily hold a particular pose, which is one of the measures of comfortable sitting.

Using our approximation, we propose the entire workflow for interactive design of $C^2$ smooth surfaces which serve as seats, or generally, as body supporting furniture for comfortable sitting. Finally, we also provide a design tool for Rhino/Grasshopper that allows for interactive creation of single designs or entire multi-person sitting scenarios. We also test the tool with design students and present several results.

Our method aims at interactive design in order to help designers to create appropriate surfaces digitally without additional empirical design passes.

Additional Files and Images

Weblinks

• DOI
• DOI: 10.1111/cgf.13573

BibTeX

@article{leimer-2018-sar,
  title =      "Sit & Relax: Interactive Design of Body-Supporting Surfaces",
  author =     "Kurt Leimer and Michael Birsak and Florian Rist and
               Przemyslaw Musialski",
  year =       "2018",
  abstract =   "We propose a novel method for interactive design of
               well-fitting body-supporting surfaces that is driven by the
               pressure distribution on the body's surface.   Our main
               contribution is an interactive modeling system that utilizes
               captured body poses and computes an importance field that is
               proportional to the pressure distribution on the body for a
               given pose. This distribution indicates where the body
               should be supported in order to easily hold a particular
               pose, which is one of the measures of comfortable sitting. 	
                Using our approximation, we propose the entire workflow for
               interactive design of $C^2$ smooth surfaces which serve as
               seats, or generally, as body supporting furniture for
               comfortable sitting. Finally, we also provide a design tool
               for Rhino/Grasshopper that allows for  interactive creation
               of single designs or entire multi-person sitting scenarios.
               We also test the tool with design students and present
               several results. 		  Our method aims at interactive design
               in order to help designers to create appropriate surfaces
               digitally without additional empirical design passes.",
  month =      oct,
  journal =    "Computer Graphics Forum",
  volume =     "37",
  number =     "7",
  doi =        "10.1111/cgf.13573",
  pages =      "349--359",
  keywords =   "interactive modeling, interactive design, digital
               fabrication",
  URL =        "https://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/research/publications/2018/leimer-2018-sar/",
}