Rapid Construction of Digital Model by Using Virtual Clay Modeling System

3D CAD systems have recently become essential to manufacturing processes. However it is still difficult to represent sculptured shapes using traditional 3D CAD systems because of its unintuitive interface. Consequently, designers tend to construct physical models such as clay models to express ideas on aesthetic design. With the rapid growth of virtual reality (VR) technologies, intuitive 3D interaction devices are being developed, and these realize intuitive 3D operations on computer. In this study, to overcome the drawbacks of currently used CAD, an interface system using VR devices is proposed. The system permits designers to express their ideas using virtual hands and virtual tools. This paper describes some basic components needed for constructing the system.