Abstract

Conceptual design is the initial stage of the product design cycle. In this stage, the structural details of the products require less attention than the functionality and style. Designers need an environment where their creative inspiration and imagination can be expressed intuitively and instantaneously without limitations. Paper-pen based traditional tools are still common in the practice. However, pen and paper based methods limit the expression of ideas (conceptual design) in the form of 2D images. This thesis introduces a free-form 3D sketching technique with an objective to improve the conceptual design stage. Improvement comes from two characteristics: firstly, the designed system enables designers to use 3D digital space to summarize their imaginations; secondly, the toolkit provides an unconstrained environment where designers/artists can demonstrate their imaginations without dealing with details. Ultimate objective of this line of the research work is to develop a free-form sketching tool where users are not familiar with the system; rather they can naturally use the system in order to complete their initial design. In order to have a stereoscopic impression or called intuitive sensor of the designed products in the conceptual design stage, a direct 3D display is essential. Hence, in this research work, we introduce an unconstrained conceptual design environment that enables designers to display their ideas instantaneously and inspirationally without any constraints in computer in the form of 3D objects directly under the support of VR technology. The developed toolkit provides: a virtual space for designers to summarize their imaginations in 3D; a module to enable smooth connection of individual surface patches; finally, a method to give surface thickness to the images. Hence the resulting images are ready to be used within the existing CAD software, for design review purposes and manufacturing planning efforts.