PM4Fashion: A Scriptable Parametric Modeling Interface for Conceptual Fashion Design Using PM4VR

Wanwan Li, University of Tulsa, USA, wanwan-li@utulsa.edu

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3670105.3670159
CNIOT 2024: 2024 5th International Conference on Computing, Networks and Internet of Things, Tokyo, Japan, May 2024

In the dynamic realm of fashion design, integrating emerging technologies of computational intelligence is essential to enhance creative activities and bring forth novel design concepts. This paper introduces PM4Fashion, a cutting-edge scriptable parametric modeling interface for conceptual fashion design. Leveraging the capabilities of PM4VR (Parametric Modeling for Virtual Reality), PM4Fashion provides designers with a novel interactive toolset to ideate and iterate conceptual fashion design in a virtual environment through diverse design possibilities of advanced parametric modeling technology via virtual reality-enabled platforms.

CCS Concepts: • Computer systems organization → Embedded systems; Redundancy; • Computer systems organization~Robotics; • Networks~Network reliability;

Keywords: Parametric Modeling, Conceptual Fashion Design

ACM Reference Format:
Wanwan Li. 2024. PM4Fashion: A Scriptable Parametric Modeling Interface for Conceptual Fashion Design Using PM4VR. In 2024 5th International Conference on Computing, Networks and Internet of Things (CNIOT 2024), May 24--26, 2024, Tokyo, Japan. ACM, New York, NY, USA 5 Pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3670105.3670159

Figure 1
Figure 1: Teaser. This teaser demonstrates PM4Fashion, a scriptable parametric modeling interface for conceptual fashion design with PM4VR. Designers craft a Java♭ script (left figure) and execute it on PM4Fashion, a 3D conceptual fashion model is automatically generated in real-time (middle figure). After connecting PM4Fashion with Oculus Quest 2 via SteamVR plugin, designer can tune parameters using VR controllers in an immersive virtual environment of fashion show (right figure).
Figure 2
Figure 2: Overview of our approach.

1 INTRODUCTION

In the ever-evolving landscape of fashion design [5, 20], the integration of advanced technology of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) [3, 17, 19] and computational intelligence [16, 25] has become pivotal for staying at the forefront of innovation. Responding to the trend [1] that the fashion industry embraces technological advancements [21], the integration of parametric modeling and virtual reality (PM4VR) [9, 12, 13, 14, 15] has the potential to be a powerful tool for conceptual fashion design [8, 18, 22]. By combining the flexibility of parametric modeling [4, 6, 10, 11, 23, 24] with the immersive nature of virtual reality [2, 7], this paper introduces PM4Fashion, a novel scriptable parametric modeling interface for conceptual fashion design in conjunction with the extended interface of PM4VR, and explores its integration with PM4VR to provide with a cutting-edge solution for conceptual fashion design.

Fig. 1 provides a glimpse into the capabilities of PM4Fashion. In this example, a conceptual fashion designer crafts a Java♭ script (depicted in the left figure), which serves as the blueprint for the envisioned garment. The real-time execution of the Java♭ script on PM4Fashion results in the instantaneous generation of a realistic 3D conceptual fashion model (shown in the middle figure). The immersive experience takes a remarkable leap forward as PM4Fashion connects with the Oculus Quest 2 VR headset via the SteamVR plugin. Now equipped with VR controllers, the designer steps into a virtual environment (as depicted in the right figure), allowing them to fine-tune parameters on a fashion show stage, transforming the conceptual design into a vivid showcase. This teaser encapsulates the integration of scriptable parametric modeling and virtual reality, showcasing the transformative potential of PM4Fashion in revolutionizing the conceptual fashion design process. PM4Fashion aims to revolutionize the way designers conceptualize and realize their ideas and empowers designers with a versatile platform that combines parametric modeling with immersive experience in VR, fostering creativity and efficiency during the design process.

2 OVERVIEW

Fig. 2 presents an overview of our proposed PM4Fashion-based solution for parametric fashion design. As shown in Fig. 2 (a), NURBS Editor, which is a Unity 3D plugin developed by us using the C# script, is serving as an interactive toolkit tailored for NURBS strip modeling. NURBS strip modeling is a pivotal feature integrated into our proposed NURBS Editor for parametric fashion design purposes. As shown in Fig. 2(b), by pressing the hotkeys of "Ctrl+G", the NURBS Editor automatically generate a NURBS strip initially set as a default shape that looks like "column roll". Subsequently, as shown in Fig. 2 (c), designers can update NURBS strips by dragging their control points through mouse interactions and pressing the hotkeys of "Ctrl+U". As shown in Fig. 2 (d), a Java♭ script sample is crafted by the designer, where the blanks represent the missing coding blocks of parametric functions for the fashion design as shown in Fig. 2 (e). By executing this Java♭ script on PM4VR modeling interface as shown in Fig. 2 (f) along with the NURBS strip designs which were saved on file by pressing the hotkeys of "Ctrl+W" as shown in Fig. 2 (g), designers can view PM4Fashion's output in real-time as the parametric fashion designs shown in Fig. 2 (h).

3 TECHNICAL APPROACH

To enable NURBS geometry operations within Unity3D Editor, we have created a plugin consisting of two C# scripts: "NURBSGeometry.cs" and "NURBSEditor.cs." The "NURBSEditor.cs" script is placed in the "Assets/Editor" directory, ensuring its integration into the Unity3D Editor's dropdown menu. The "NURBSGeometry.cs" script is designed to be attached to a GameObject within the scene, serving as a MonoBehaviour component. Key combination "Ctrl+G" serves as a trigger for generating a default NURBS strip in Unity3D Editor, initially configured as a column roll with a 4x8 grid of control points. This provides users with a quick starting point for NURBS strip geometry. Subsequent dynamic refinement is made possible through user manipulation of control point positions or adjustments to the radius, allowing for modification of weights. The application of these changes is executed with "Ctrl+U" command, ensuring real-time updates. To save and store the designed NURBS strips at any time, users can export the control points’ positions and weights into a file using "Ctrl+W" command for data preservation. Additionally, the plugin offers flexibility to load pre-existing NURBS strip files into the scene with "Ctrl+L" command, enabling efficient backup for resuming any paused design process. These operations establish an interactive environment within Unity3D Editor, empowering users to create and manage NURBS strips.

Figure 3
Figure 3: Java ♭ Scripts for Parametric Functions.
NURBS Strip. The NURBS Strip, alternatively referred to as NURBS Band or NURBS Loop, is a distinctive form of NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline) geometry that is created by seamlessly connecting the ends of a NURBS surface with C2-Continuity, ensuring smooth tangential transitions at the ends. Mathematically, the coordinates of each NURBS strip's control points are denoted as {pi, j|i ∈ [0, m], j ∈ [0, n]}, where i and j index the control points in the parametric directions u and v, respectively. Additionally, the control weights associated with each control point are represented as {wi, j|i ∈ [0, m], j ∈ [0, n]}, with wi, j representing the radius of the respective control point. Then, the parametric equation s(u, v) for the NURBS strip is expressed as function of parameters u and v:
\begin{equation} \mathbf {s}(u, v)=\frac{\sum _{i=0}^m\sum _{j=0}^{n+q}w_{i,j \ (\mathrm{mod}\ n)}b_p^i(u)b_q^j(v)\mathbf {p}_{i,j \ (\mathrm{mod}\ n)}}{\sum _{i=0}^m\sum _{j=0}^{n+q}w_{i,j \ (\mathrm{mod}\ n)}b_p^i(u)b_q^j(v)}, \end{equation}
(1)
where $b_p^i(u)$ is the $p^\textrm {th}$ order B-spline basis function of the $i^\textrm {th}$ control point. NURBS Strip plays a crucial role in PM4Fashion owing to its inherent capability to undergo easy deformation to adapt and shape itself to the outfit components (such as top, dress, or skirt).

Parametric Function. In PM4Fashion, we propose a Java♭ function of addNURBSStrip("NURBS name", f(u, v), u0 : u1, v0 : v1). The mathematical processing involves constructing the surface by initially loading the NURBS strip geometry from the "⟨ NURBS name⟩.NURBS" file denoted as parametric function s(u, v). Subsequently, the NURBS strip is deformed along the normal direction at each point (u, v), with a displacement defined by the parametric function f(u, v). This deformation results in a new parametric surface g(u, v) calculated with the following equation:

\begin{equation} \mathbf {g}(u, v)=\mathbf {s}(u, v)+\frac{\mathbf {s}_u(u,v)\times \mathbf {s}_v(u,v)}{\big |\big |\mathbf {s}_u(u,v)\times \mathbf {s}_v(u,v)\big |\big |}f(u, v) \end{equation}
(2)

Figure 4
Figure 4: NURBS Strips for Fashion Designs.

4 EXPERIMENT RESULTS

To evaluate the efficacy of our proposed technical methodology, a comprehensive set of numerical experiments was conducted on conceptual fashion designs utilizing the scriptable parametric modeling interface of PM4Fashion. The implementation of our proposed approach was carried out within Unity 3D of 2019 version. The numerical experiments generated results on a system equipped with an Intel Core i5 CPU, 32GB DDR4 RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB GDDR6 Graphics Card. The use of Unity 3D provided a reliable platform for validating the capabilities and practicality of our proposed technical approach in the context of fashion design.

Figure 5
Figure 5: Different Parametric Settings. This figure shows parametric conceptual fashion designed with PM4Fashion using different parametric settings such as NURBS trips designs (three rows) and parametric functions (six columns).

In Fig. 5, a visual representation is provided of parametric conceptual fashion designs that maintain consistent parameter values of R = 0.5 and r = 0.5. This figure encompasses three rows, each featuring a different NURBS strip design detailed in Fig. 4. Additionally, the figure illustrates six distinct columns, each associated with a unique design parametric function detailed in Fig. 3. The combination of the three NURBS strip designs and the six design parametric functions results in a matrix of diverse fashion design outputs. This presentation allows for a comprehensive examination of the impact of both NURBS strip designs and parametric functions on the final conceptual fashion outcomes, providing valuable insights into the versatility and adaptability of the proposed modeling approach.

Fig. 6 captures a user engaging in the fine-tuning a fashion design's parameter values using PM4Fashion interface in a virtual environment of fashion stage. The immersive nature of VR allows user to interact with the design elements in 3D space, providing a dynamic and intuitive platform for adjustments. The user, equipped with VR devices, is able to manipulate the fashion design's parameters in real-time, fostering an immersive experience. This approach not only enhances the user's control over the design process but also highlights the interactive capabilities of PM4Fashion in VR, facilitating a intuitive and efficient workflow for fashion design. For more details, please watch the experiment result video available at the following link: https://youtu.be/VcqyLADLs7A

Figure 6
Figure 6: User Study. This figure shows a user fine-tuning the fashion design's parameter values using PM4Fashion in VR.

5 CONCLUSION

This paper introduces PM4Fashion, a novel scriptable parametric modeling interface tailored for conceptual fashion design, seamlessly integrated with PM4VR. PM4Fashion represents a paradigm shift in conceptual fashion design by combining the power of scriptable parametric modeling with the immersive experience of virtual reality. This integrated platform empowers designers with flexibility, efficiency, and creativity, ushering in a new era of innovation in the fashion industry. As technology continues to evolve, PM4Fashion stands at the forefront, bridging the gap between imagination and realization in the dynamic world of fashion design.

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CNIOT 2024, May 24–26, 2024, Tokyo, Japan

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ACM ISBN 979-8-4007-1675-1/24/05.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3670105.3670159