Semantic shape editing using deformation handles

Abstract

We propose a shape editing method where the user creates geometric deformations using a set of semantic attributes, thus avoiding the need for detailed geometric manipulations. In contrast to prior work, we focus on continuous deformations instead of discrete part substitutions. Our method provides a platform for quick design explorations and allows non-experts to produce semantically guided shape variations that are otherwise difficult to attain. We crowdsource a large set of pairwise comparisons between the semantic attributes and geometry and use this data to learn a continuous mapping from the semantic attributes to geometry. The resulting map enables simple and intuitive shape manipulations based solely on the learned attributes. We demonstrate our method on large datasets using two different user interaction modes and evaluate its usability with a set of user studies.