3D Virtual Clothing: from Garment Design to Web3D Visualization and Simulation Luca Chittaro HCI Lab, Dept. of Math and Computer Science University of Udine via delle Scienze 206, 33100 Udine, Italy +39 0432 558450 chittaro@dimi.uniud.it Demis Corvaglia HCI Lab, Dept. of Math and Computer Science University of Udine via delle Scienze 206, 33100 Udine, Italy ABSTRACT One of the major challenges in Computer Graphics concerns the 3D representation and physically-based simulation of garments. In our research, we are working closely with the textile industry, investigating three different classes of problems. First, we aim at developing techniques and methods for cloth simulation specifically aimed at the Web3D context. Second, we are defining a cross-application data exchange format among the different CAD systems and applications used in the textile industry, including the additional information needed to support 3D simulations. Third, we are implementing a tool that complements traditional textile CAD systems (which are based on 2D graphics), allowing the user to automatically obtain VRML-based 3D previews of the garment (for evaluating garment designs and also easily publishing them on the Web). This paper illustrates the results we have achieved in these three directions. Categories and Subject Descriptors I.3.5 [Computer Graphics]: Computational Geometry and Object Modeling – Physically based modeling. I.3.6 [Computer Graphics]: Methodology and Techniques – Interaction techniques and standards. I.3.7 [Computer Graphics]: Three- Dimensional Graphics and Realism – Animation, and virtual reality. H.5.1[Information Interfaces and Presentation]: Multimedia Information Systems – Artificial, augmented, and virtual realities. J.6 [Computer-Aided Engineering]: Computer- aided design (CAD). General Terms Algorithms, Performance, Design, Standardization. Keywords Physically-based simulation, virtual clothing, cross-application data exchange format for the textile industry, CAD tools for garment design, Product Visualization, VRML/Java, XML. 1. INTRODUCTION Physically-based computer animation is one of the relevant research areas in Computer Graphics [17]. One of the several challenges in this area concerns the 3D representation and simulation of garments. This is crucial for industries as different as the movie industry (that needs to include very realistic animated characters in its productions) and the fashion and textile industry, whose purpose is twofold: on one side, they would like to build virtual prototypes of garments for evaluating a design without the need for actually producing it; on the other side, they would like to develop virtual try-on applications allowing consumers to see how a garment fits on their individual body measures. An ideal 3D garment simulation should be both very efficient (e.g., real-time animation) and high-fidelity (e.g., deformations of cloth caused by the shape of a specific human body, different behaviors determined by the materials of which the garment is made). Unfortunately, the high computational complexity of the simulation makes it very difficult to achieve both goals: existing systems are tailored to favor one of the two. Systems that are capable of real-time animation can produce impressive results, but are of scarce interest to the textile industry, because the obtained results are not reliable and cannot be used to predict how the actual garment will look and behave in the physical world. High- fidelity simulation of a garment might require hours of computation to produce a few seconds of animation. However, while its results are highly realistic and satisfactory from the point of view of the movie industry, it still presents open issues (e.g., integration with existing textile design tools) from the point of view of the fashion designer. In our research, we are working closely with the textile industry (in particular, with the Benetton Group), investigating three different classes of problems. First, we are developing techniques for cloth simulation aimed at building a garment simulation engine for the Web3D context. Second, we are defining a cross-application data exchange format aimed at allowing data interchange among the different CAD systems and applications used in the textile industry, including the additional information needed to support 3D simulations. Third, we are implementing a tool that complements traditional textile CAD systems (which are based on 2D graphics), allowing the user to automatically obtain VRML-based 3D previews of the garment (for evaluating garment designs and also easily publishing them on the Web). The tool is based on the previously mentioned simulation engine and interchange format. This paper illustrates the results we have achieved in the three directions.