Host: The Institute of Image Electronics Engineers of Japan
We describe a novel system which realizes intuitive physical retrieval of 3D meshes from a database of 3D models, based not only on the shape geometry but also on its functionality. By using point-sampled representation for a 3D shape both of a query and models, our system allows the user to physically and interactively express a geometrical and content based query by simply assembling a set of ActiveCubes. The user can retrieve 3D models from the database based on their shape, and can also physically integrate functional annotated blocks in the query. Following, the user intuitively defines an interactive spatial query which has both geometrical and functional aspects.