Inverse Modeling of (Facial) Contact

Abstract

In this thesis, a novel representation and technique for simulating static non-linear material behavior based on Finite Elements (FE) is presented. All required simulation parameters can be acquired and fitted from a set of example deformations of a real-world object or subject. The simulation is therefore closely related to the person or object specific deformation behavior. We first acquire a single static surface scan and several measurements of static surface displacements by probing an object at many positions and orientations using a force sensor. A trinocular stereo system measures the surface displacements at colored marker locations on the object. The volume of the object is discretized into tetrahedral elements, and for each element and every measurement material parameters are fitted. Our material model consists of material parameters and the corresponding material strain. During run time, we blend these parameters by using a novel strain-based interpolation scheme in material strain space, modeling therefore intuitively the non-linear material stress-strain relationship. Furthermore, since the model is based on a linear deformation FEM, simulations of new interactions are stable and also computationally efficient.