Constrained Layout Generation with Factor Graphs
Authors: Mohammed Haroon Dupty, Yanfei Dong, Sicong Leng, Guoji Fu, Yong Liang Goh, Wei Lu, Wee Sun Lee

This paper addresses the challenge of object-centric layout generation under spatial constraints seen in multiple domains including floorplan design process. The design process typically involves specifying a set of spatial constraints that include object attributes like size and inter-object relations such as relative positioning. Existing works which typically represent objects as single nodes lack the granularity to accurately model complex interactions between objects. For instance often only certain parts of an object like a room's right wall interact with adjacent objects. To address this gap we introduce a factor graph based approach with four latent variable nodes for each room and a factor node for each constraint. The factor nodes represent dependencies among the variables to which they are connected effectively capturing constraints that are potentially of a higher order. We then develop message-passing on the bipartite graph forming a factor graph neural network that is trained to produce a floorplan that aligns with the desired requirements. Our approach is simple and generates layouts faithful to the user requirements demonstrated by a large improvement in IOU scores over existing methods. Additionally our approach being inferential and accurate is well-suited to the practical human-in-the-loop design process where specifications evolve iteratively offering a practical and powerful tool for AI-guided design.