. In Design by Dragging, designers navigate through a space of hundreds of simulation outputs using direct manipulation interfaces on top of data visualizations. In this example, medical device engineers refine the design of a mechanical biopsy device with two concentric cylinders (cannulas) that slide against each other to cut tissue. In forward design (left), drag operations change the value of simulation inputs, such as the length of the cutting window. In inverse design (right), drag operations directly change the simulation outputs. Users bend and reshape stress fields and the system responds continuously, displaying morphs between the pre-computed simulation results. Abstract-We present an interface for exploring large design spaces as encountered in simulation-based engineering, design of visual effects, and other tasks that require tuning parameters of computationally-intensive simulations and visually evaluating results. The goal is to enable a style of design with simulations that feels as-direct-as-possible so users can concentrate on creative design tasks. The approach integrates forward design via direct manipulation of simulation inputs (e.g., geometric properties, applied forces) in the same visual space with inverse design via "tugging" and reshaping simulation outputs (e.g., scalar fields from finite element analysis (FEA) or computational fluid dynamics (CFD)). The interface includes algorithms for interpreting the intent of users' drag operations relative to parameterized models, morphing arbitrary scalar fields output from FEA and CFD simulations, and in-place interactive ensemble visualization. The inverse design strategy can be extended to use multi-touch input in combination with an as-rigid-as-possible shape manipulation to support rich visual queries. The potential of this new design approach is confirmed via two applications: medical device engineering of a vacuum-assisted biopsy device and visual effects design using a physically based flame simulation.
Coffey et al. REF designed an interface which uses a mapping between model features and simulation inputs to enable direct simulation input parameter manipulations.
Design by Dragging: An Interface for Creative Forward and Inverse Design with Simulation Ensembles
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics
Computer Science Medicine