Deformable Object Behavior Reconstruction Derived Through Simultaneous Geometric and Material Property Estimation

We present a methodology of accurately reconstructing the deformation and surface characteristics of a scanned 3D model recorded in real-time within a Finite Element Model (FEM) simulation. Based on a sequence of generated surface deformations defining a reference animation, we illustrate the ability to accurately replicate the deformation behavior of an object composed of an unknown homogeneous elastic material. We then formulate the procedural generation of the internal geometric structure and material parameterization required to achieve the recorded deformation behavior as a non-linear optimization problem. In this formulation the geometric distribution (quality) and density of tetrahedral components are simultaneously optimized with the elastic material parameters (Young’s Modulus and Possion’s ratio) of a procedurally generated FEM model to provide the optimal deformation behavior with respect to the recorded surface.