RealFusion: An Interactive Workflow for Repurposing Real-World Objects towards Early-stage Creative Ideation

Abstract

We present RealFusion, an interactive workflow that supports early stage design ideation in a digital 3D medium. RealFusion is inspired by the practice of found-object-art, wherein new representations are created by composing existing objects. The key motivation behind our approach is direct creation of 3D artifacts during design ideation, in contrast to conventional practice of employing 2D sketching. RealFusion comprises of three creative states where users can (a) repurpose physical objects as modeling components, (b) modify the components to explore different forms, and (c) compose them into a meaningful 3D model. We demonstrate RealFusion using a simple interface that comprises of a depth sensor and a smartphone. To achieve direct and efficient manipulation of modeling elements, we also utilize mid-air interactions with the smartphone. We conduct a user study with novice designers to evaluate the creative outcomes that can be achieved using RealFusion.