System and method for constrained manipulations of 3D objects by multitouch inputs

摘要

Described herein are systems and methods that employ a widgetless and buttonless multi-touch interface for constrained manipulations of 3D objects. The widget-less multi-touch user interface can map different multi-touch gestures to different 3D object manipulation tasks, allowing a user to manipulate 3D objects without operating widgets or performing mode switchings or tool selections. User interaction is greatly simplified by using single touch actions that simultaneously specify the transformation constraint, the transformation type, and the magnitude of transformation and apply the transformation to the focus object. Additionally, the axis-based constrained manipulations support active snapping and axis transfer. Active snapping allows the user to draw a free touch path connecting two 3D objects to be snapped together, avoiding tedious operations required with standard transformation manipulations. Axis transfer provides a simple solution to achieve relative transformations between objects, allowing an object to be transformed along a specific predefined axis of another object.