Abstract: The 3D Tractus is an extension of the traditional drawing board by giving the user a third degree of freedom while preserving a familiar table-top drawing experience. The vertical movement of the drawing surface allows the user to interact with and create 3D things with only a tablet PC! The research focused on giving the user the chance to intuitively draw in 3D. We developed a custom application that is run on a tablet PC placed on top of the Tractus. Simultaneously the artist draws in two dimensions on the tablet PC and moves the Tractus surface up and down to create 3D line strokes. An extension to drawing in 3D was developed where the user's 3D strokes are mapped to the branch system of a virtual plant. The strokes are used to guide the simulated growth of the plant, rapidly creating many structurally similar plants that appear different due to small variations in their growth.

Researchers: Paul Lapides, Ehud Sharlin, Mario Costa Sousa, Lisa Streit



Video: