Towards reverse design of freeform shapes

The need for more intuitive, faster and more effective tools for freeform product design is still an outstanding research issue in shape modeling. We propose a new methodology in which the designer can define optimal shape modification tools for the situation at hand. The key to this method is a dialogue between the designer and the computer, in which the details of the requested shape modifier are settled. The proposed tool, called user-defined modifier (UDM), is based on recent techniques from freeform shape recognition and parameterized, template-controlled shape modification. The dialogue between user and the system is described, and the basic techniques for the UDM tool are presented as well