As the number of 3D models available on the Web grows, there is an increasing need for a search engine to help people find them. Unfortunately, traditional text-based search techniques are not always effective for 3D data. In this paper, we investigate new shape-based search methods. The key challenges are to develop query methods simple enough for novice users and matching algorithms robust enough to work for arbitrary polygonal models. We present a web-based search engine system that supports queries based on 3D sketches, 2D sketches, 3D

this paper, we propose and analyze a method for computing shape signatures for arbitrary (possibly degenerate) 3D polygonal models. The key idea is to represent the signature of an object as a shape distribution sampled from a shape function measuring global geometric properties of an object. The primary motivation for this approach is to reduce the shape matching problem to the comparison of probability distributions, which is simpler than traditional shape matching methods that require pose registration, feature correspondence, or model fitting

We define the Morse-Smale complex of a Morse function over a 3-manifold as the overlay of the descending and ascending manifolds of all critical points. In the generic case, its 3-dimensional cells are shaped like crystals and are separated by quadrangular faces. In this paper, we give a combinatorial algorithm for constructing such complexes for piecewise linear data.

This paper presents a multiscale framework based on a medial representation for the segmentation and shape characterization of anatomical objects in medical imagery. The segmentation procedure is based on a Bayesian deformable templates methodology in which the prior information about the geometry and shape of anatomical objects is incorporated via the construction of exemplary templates. The anatomical variability is accommodated in the Bayesian framework by defining probabilistic transformations on these templates. The transformations, thus, defined are parameterized directly in terms of natural shape operations, such as growth and bending, and their locations. A preliminary validation study of the segmentation procedure is presented. We also present a novel statistical shape analysis approach based on the medial descriptions that examines shape via separate intuitive categories, such as global variability at the coarse scale and localized variability at the fine scale. We show that the method can be used to statistically describe shape variability in intuitive terms such as growing and bending.

Computing reflective symmetries of 2D and 3D shapes is a classical problem in computer vision and computational geometry. Most prior work has focused on finding the main axes of symmetry, or determining that none exists.

The medial axis of a surface in 3D is the closure of all points that have two or more closest points on the surface. It is an essential geometric structure in a number of applications involving 3D geometric shapes. Since exact computation of the medial axis is difficult in general, efforts continue to improve their approximations. Voronoi diagrams turn out to be useful for this approximation. Although it is known that Voronoi vertices for a sample of points from a curve in 2D approximate its medial axis, similar result does not hold in 3D. Recently, it has been discovered that only a subset of Voronoi vertices converge to the medial axis as sample density approaches infinity. However, most applications need a non-discrete approximation as opposed to a discrete one. To date no known algorithm can compute this approximation straight from the Voronoi diagram with a guarantee of convergence. We present such an algorithm and its convergence analysis in this paper. One salient feature of the algorithm is that it is scale and density independent. Experimental results corroborate our theoretical claims.

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In this paper, we propose a new scheme for free-form skeleton-driven global mesh deformations. First a Voronoi-based skeletal mesh is extracted from a given original mesh. Next the skeletal mesh is modified by free-form deformations. Then a desired global shape deformation is obtained by reconstructing the shape corresponding to the deformed skeletal mesh. We develop a mesh fairing procedure allowing us to avoid possible global and local self-intersections of the reconstructed mesh. Finally, using DSS [16] shape representation improves the speed and robustness of our approach.

We describe a novel continuous medial representation for object geometry and a deformable templates method for fitting the representation to images. Our representation simultaneously describes the boundary and medial loci of geometrical objects, always maintaining Blum’s symmetric axis transform (SAT) relationship. Cubic b-splines define the continuous medial locus and the associated thickness field, which in turn generate the object boundary. We present geometrical properties of the representation and derive a set of constraints on the b-spline parameters. The 2D representation encompasses branching medial loci; the 3D version can model objects with a single medial surface, and the extension to branching medial surfaces is a subject of ongoing research. We present preliminary results of segmenting 2D and 3D medical images. The representation is ultimately intended for use in statistical shape analysis.

We describe a robust adaptive marching tetrahedra type algorithm for constructing a polygonal approximation of the Voronoi Diagram of an arbitrary set of triangles in three dimensions.