3D Sketch System Based on Life-Sized and Operable Concept Enhanced by Three Design Spaces

Abstract

We have been studying the use of "Rich Media" to support creative and intelligent human activities. Specifically, for over ten years we have been focusing on the 3D space as a "Rich Medium" and developed many 3D sketch systems that support the design of 3D objects. However, we found that designers in the real world do not use them. The fundamental problem is the lack of an indispensable function for using the 3D space. To overcome this problem, we have proposed "lifesized and operable" design principles. Although the new design concept made the 3D space truly useful and promoted the designer to use such a system, it revealed new problems, i.e., limited design space. In this paper, we extend this "life-sized and operable" 3D sketch system by using three design spaces, which enables the user to traverse between 2D drawing and 3D drawing spaces, between miniature and actual sizes, between rough sketching and precise design, and among still, operable, and haptic sketching.