US 7,095,418 B2Granted

Apparatus and methods for texture mapping

AssigneeSensAble Technologies, Inc.

InventorsJonathan Levene, Marc Midura, Joshua Handley

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Abstract

The invention provides texture mapping techniques that facilitate interactive painting of a three-dimensional virtual surface by a user in object space, without requiring global parameterization. The texture mapping techniques feature rendering texture for a given virtual object using a plurality of composite textures, each formed by blending collapsible texture layers. Texture coordinates in texture space are derived using information determined at the time of surface mesh generation. The invention features dynamic texture allocation and deallocation, allowing a user to interactively modify the shape of a painted, three-dimensional model. Finally, the invention features an architecture for combined graphical rendering and haptic rendering of a virtual object, allowing a user to experience force feedback during the painting of the object in object space.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A method of interactively representing application by a user of at least one brush stroke directly onto a virtual object in object space, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) allocating a plurality of texture elements in two dimensional texture space for a plurality of jacks of a virtual object;
(b) graphically rendering the allocated texture in real time as a user applies at least one brush stroke onto the virtual object as represented in object space, wherein the rendering step comprises creating at least one blended texture that is at least temporarily bound to a graphics application during the rendering;
and
(c) updating at least one of the blended textures according to the at least one brush stroke applied by the user, wherein the method further comprises:
(i) using an index corresponding to each of a plurality of jacks of the virtual object to identify texture elements to which surface elements of the virtual object are mapped;
or
(ii) allocating texture in the texture space for at least one newly-created jack of the virtual object following an object modification;
and
(iii) blending a set of texture layers corresponding to a first of a plurality of texture regions in the texture space and binding the blended texture to the graphics application during rendering of the first texture region.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.