Simple interactive 3D modeling for all

Google Tech Talks
April, 15 2008

ABSTRACT

The recent increase in demand for 3D content, for a wide variety of purposes, has led to a corresponding increase in the number and diversity of people using 3D modeling software. It has also amplified the pressure to deliver 3D models on tight budgets, and at pace. These combined pressures have driven an increase in the sophistication of 3D modelling software, but also a new focus on its usability. VideoTrace represents a significant change in the way 3D models are made, and exemplifies a new kind of interface design. The VideoTrace user sketches the shape they require over a frame of a video sequence, and automated image analysis techniques generate the model. The interface is thus intuitive, and easy to use, but supported by strong mathematical analysis. It allows unskilled users to achieve models that would be impossible using more conventional modelling software, and skilled users to dramatically improve their accuracy and productivity.

Speaker: Anton van den Hengel
Anton van den Hengel is the Director of the Australian Centre for Visual Technologies, a Director of PunchCard Visual Technologies Pty Ltd, and an Associate Professor in Computer Vision at the University of Adelaide, South Australia. Dr van den Hengel's primary research interests are in interactive 3D modeling from image sets and large-scale video surveillance.