9 research outputs found
Surface Networks
We study data-driven representations for three-dimensional triangle meshes,
which are one of the prevalent objects used to represent 3D geometry. Recent
works have developed models that exploit the intrinsic geometry of manifolds
and graphs, namely the Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) and its spectral variants,
which learn from the local metric tensor via the Laplacian operator. Despite
offering excellent sample complexity and built-in invariances, intrinsic
geometry alone is invariant to isometric deformations, making it unsuitable for
many applications. To overcome this limitation, we propose several upgrades to
GNNs to leverage extrinsic differential geometry properties of
three-dimensional surfaces, increasing its modeling power.
In particular, we propose to exploit the Dirac operator, whose spectrum
detects principal curvature directions --- this is in stark contrast with the
classical Laplace operator, which directly measures mean curvature. We coin the
resulting models \emph{Surface Networks (SN)}. We prove that these models
define shape representations that are stable to deformation and to
discretization, and we demonstrate the efficiency and versatility of SNs on two
challenging tasks: temporal prediction of mesh deformations under non-linear
dynamics and generative models using a variational autoencoder framework with
encoders/decoders given by SNs
Steklov Spectral Geometry for Extrinsic Shape Analysis
We propose using the Dirichlet-to-Neumann operator as an extrinsic
alternative to the Laplacian for spectral geometry processing and shape
analysis. Intrinsic approaches, usually based on the Laplace-Beltrami operator,
cannot capture the spatial embedding of a shape up to rigid motion, and many
previous extrinsic methods lack theoretical justification. Instead, we consider
the Steklov eigenvalue problem, computing the spectrum of the
Dirichlet-to-Neumann operator of a surface bounding a volume. A remarkable
property of this operator is that it completely encodes volumetric geometry. We
use the boundary element method (BEM) to discretize the operator, accelerated
by hierarchical numerical schemes and preconditioning; this pipeline allows us
to solve eigenvalue and linear problems on large-scale meshes despite the
density of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann discretization. We further demonstrate that
our operators naturally fit into existing frameworks for geometry processing,
making a shift from intrinsic to extrinsic geometry as simple as substituting
the Laplace-Beltrami operator with the Dirichlet-to-Neumann operator.Comment: Additional experiments adde
Nonlinear Spectral Geometry Processing via the TV Transform
We introduce a novel computational framework for digital geometry processing,
based upon the derivation of a nonlinear operator associated to the total
variation functional. Such operator admits a generalized notion of spectral
decomposition, yielding a sparse multiscale representation akin to
Laplacian-based methods, while at the same time avoiding undesirable
over-smoothing effects typical of such techniques. Our approach entails
accurate, detail-preserving decomposition and manipulation of 3D shape geometry
while taking an especially intuitive form: non-local semantic details are well
separated into different bands, which can then be filtered and re-synthesized
with a straightforward linear step. Our computational framework is flexible,
can be applied to a variety of signals, and is easily adapted to different
geometry representations, including triangle meshes and point clouds. We
showcase our method throughout multiple applications in graphics, ranging from
surface and signal denoising to detail transfer and cubic stylization.Comment: 16 pages, 20 figure
Disentangling Geometric Deformation Spaces in Generative Latent Shape Models
A complete representation of 3D objects requires characterizing the space of
deformations in an interpretable manner, from articulations of a single
instance to changes in shape across categories. In this work, we improve on a
prior generative model of geometric disentanglement for 3D shapes, wherein the
space of object geometry is factorized into rigid orientation, non-rigid pose,
and intrinsic shape. The resulting model can be trained from raw 3D shapes,
without correspondences, labels, or even rigid alignment, using a combination
of classical spectral geometry and probabilistic disentanglement of a
structured latent representation space. Our improvements include more
sophisticated handling of rotational invariance and the use of a diffeomorphic
flow network to bridge latent and spectral space. The geometric structuring of
the latent space imparts an interpretable characterization of the deformation
space of an object. Furthermore, it enables tasks like pose transfer and
pose-aware retrieval without requiring supervision. We evaluate our model on
its generative modelling, representation learning, and disentanglement
performance, showing improved rotation invariance and intrinsic-extrinsic
factorization quality over the prior model.Comment: 22 page
Diskrete Spin-Geometrie für Flächen
This thesis proposes a discrete framework for spin geometry of surfaces. Specifically, we discretize the basic notions in spin geometry, such as the spin structure, spin connection and Dirac operator. In this framework, two types of Dirac operators are closely related as in smooth case. Moreover, they both induce the discrete conformal immersion with prescribed mean curvature half-density.In dieser Arbeit wird ein diskreter Zugang zur Spin-Geometrie vorgestellt. Insbesondere diskretisieren wir die grundlegende Begriffe, wie zum Beispiel die Spin-Struktur, den Spin-Zusammenhang und den Dirac Operator. In diesem Rahmen sind zwei Varianten fĂĽr den Dirac Operator eng verwandt wie in der glatten Theorie. DarĂĽber hinaus induzieren beide die diskret-konforme Immersion mit vorgeschriebener Halbdichte der mittleren KrĂĽmmung
Local Geometry Processing for Deformations of Non-Rigid 3D Shapes
Geometry processing and in particular spectral geometry processing deal with many different deformations that complicate shape analysis problems for non-rigid 3D objects. Furthermore, pointwise description of surfaces has increased relevance for several applications such as shape correspondences and matching, shape representation, shape modelling and many others. In this thesis we propose four local approaches to face the problems generated by the deformations of real objects and improving the pointwise characterization of surfaces. Differently from global approaches that work simultaneously on the entire shape we focus on the properties of each point and its local neighborhood. Global analysis of shapes is not negative in itself. However, having to deal with local variations, distortions and deformations, it is often challenging to relate two real objects globally. For this reason, in the last decades, several instruments have been introduced for the local analysis of images, graphs, shapes and surfaces. Starting from this idea of localized analysis, we propose both theoretical insights and application tools within the local geometry processing domain. In more detail, we extend the windowed Fourier transform from the standard Euclidean signal processing to different versions specifically designed for spectral geometry processing. Moreover, from the spectral geometry processing perspective, we define a new family of localized basis for the functional space defined on surfaces that improve the spatial localization for standard applications in this field. Finally, we introduce the discrete time evolution process as a framework that characterizes a point through its pairwise relationship with the other points on the surface in an increasing scale of locality. The main contribute of this thesis is a set of tools for local geometry processing and local spectral geometry processing that could be used in standard useful applications. The overall observation of our analysis is that localization around points could factually improve the geometry processing in many different applications