Feature-aware texturing and 3D collages

been involved in. The first project deals with feature-aware image
warping that is useful for 2D and 3D texture mapping. We present a
method for inhomogeneous image warping guided by a feature mask that
preserves some regions of the image, such as foreground objects or
other prominent parts. Our mapping may receive an arbitrary warping
function as input, and produce its feature-aware version that
preserves the shape of the image features as much as possible. In
particular, our method allows global or local changes to the aspect
ratio of the texture without causing undesirable shearing to the
features. The algorithmic core of our method is a particular
formulation of the Laplacian editing technique, suited to accommodate
similarity constraints on parts of the domain. The method is useful in
digital imaging, texture design and any other applications involving
image warping, where parts of the image have high familiarity and
should retain their shape after modification.

The second project is a work in progress, an attempt to approach
non-realistic modeling.The ability of computer graphics to represent
images symbolically has so far been used mostly to render existing
models with greater clarity or with greater visual appeal. In this
work, we present a method aimed at harnessing this symbolic
representation power to increase the expressiveness of the 3D models
themselves. We achieve this through modification of the actual
representation of 3D shapes rather than their images.
Our research is inspired by the expressive ability of surrealist art,
most notably the "path-blazing" work of Giuseppe Arcimboldo
(1527-1593). As early as in the middle of the 16th century, Arcimboldo
noticed that human visual perception can separate shape from content.
His allegorical figures composed of vegetables and fruit demonstrate
the assertion of the surrealist movement that a single image or statue
can convey more than one concept, providing a more expressive medium.
However, the technical difficulty of modeling a complex 3D shape from
other shapes meant that both artistic and composition works typically
dealt only with 2D representations such as images. Our work is meant
to address this challenge, presenting an algorithm for 3D collage
generation based on partial matching using local shape descriptors.
Our algorithm serves as an artistic tool, providing the artist with
the means to remain engaged in the creative process by maintaining
high-level control through several interface options.