A Constraint-Solver Based Tool for User-Assisted Interactive 3D Layout

摘要

We propose to use constraint programming (CP) to assist the user in 3D layout of restricted virtual environments (VEs). With this aim in mind, we integrated a constraint solver, into a professional authoring tool allowing the development of 3D real-time applications. The solver is used to formalize and develop different types of layout constraints and to find a solution to a user-specified layout problem. A communication module was developed to transmit the solution to the VE which automatically re-arranges itself. Modeling the problem and finding solutions are completely transparent for the user since he/she interacts with the VE regardless of the resolution mechanisms. In addition to the automatic objects placement, the proposed system can be used to assist the user during a manual layout by providing visual informations about the areas in which a given object cannot be placed. An experimental study has been carried out to investigate the effect of the provided look ahead-based assistance on user performance in 3D layout tasks.