Gesture interface for 3D CAD modeling using Kinect

Modeling in general can be viewed as a two-step process, the first being concept visualization followed by the final design. Most designers who work with CAD systems go through the concept visualization stage and follow the same steps required in the final design stage. A standard approach to concept visualization is traditionally performed using clay modeling, yet there is a lack of computer aided design tools that can faithfully mimic the process of traditional clay modeling both in terms of representation of virtual clay as well as an immersive user interface capable of capturing the user's intent in an intuitive sense. In this paper we describe a voxel based representation of virtual clay and introduce a hierarchical gestural interface using Kinect which together brings the intuitiveness of traditional clay modeling to a CAD environment. The framework was validated using a 3D clay modeling software (n=13). Results showed that most of the participants were able to adapt to the new interface quickly.