An Interactive Tile-Based Modeling Interface

This paper presents a novel modeling interface and method that uses two-dimensional (2D) data. In general, 2D computer graphics are most commonly used to depict 2D structures. However, many computer games often depict three-dimensional (3D) structures using 2D computer graphics. We define such an expression as an overhead view. Although an overhead view has no 3D structure, we can perceive an ambiguous 3D structure from it. In this study, we define shape perception rules from the overhead view and propose a novel modeling system using it. We also propose a tile-based interface as a prototype system that can create a 3D shape from an overhead view and can seamlessly convert an overhead view into a 3D view. In addition, we conduct a psychological experiment by means of which we confirmed our system is highly intuitive and can quickly create 3D models.