FU Berlin, Fachbereich
Mathematik und Informatik, Institut
für Informatik
Vortrag des Informatik-Kolloquiums
Characterizing and Moulding Shape
Franz - Erich Wolter, Welfen Laboratory,
Lehrstuhl Graphische Datenverarbeitung, Universität Hannover
We give an overview on geometrical and analytical methods useful to characterize and construct shape. In this context we explain that
Medial Axes and spectra of Laplace operators can be employed to classify the shape of surfaces and solids.
The major part of this seminar discusses distance geometric concepts such as medial axis and cut locus. Here we present new geometric
concepts such as geodesic Medial Axes and geodesic Voronoi diagrams being generalizations of their classical counter parts to curved
surfaces. In the latter case the geodesic distance between two surface points is defined by the shortest surface path joining the
two points.
Finally we indicate that the medial axis transform provides geometric tools that might be employed to develop intuitive user interfaces
useful to mould shape via haptic man/machine interaction.
The subsequent websites contain material including many figures illustrating related seminars given by the author at Brown University:
http://www.lems.brown.edu/vision/Presentations/Wolter/index.html
http://www.lems.brown.edu/vision/extra/SHAPE/Presentations/Wolter01/