WYSIWYFab and CSlice : improved interfaces for rapid prototyping

Abstract

People should be able to create anything they can imagine. Toward that vision, people need tools to augment their ability to turn an idea into a prototype. Recently, hardware improvements in fabrication tools, such as 3D printers, have decreased the cost of prototyping. Computational improvements have enabled new ways to model and analyze designs. However, the interfaces that people must interact with to prototype an idea are lacking. Current interfaces are too complex for novice users and too weak for advanced users. In this thesis, I start by describing a vision of the future to show why people should have the tools to create anything they can imagine. Then, I provide two novel interaction models, along with their implementations. First, I present WYSIWYFab: a method that unifies the 3D printing pipeline, by merging the steps of modeling a 3D object and slicing a 3D object into a single step. Second, I present CSlice: a method that inverts the traditional slicing workflow, by optimizing slicing based on user constraints, instead of imperative parameters. Finally, I discuss the results of these methods, and suggest future work for improving the interfaces of rapid prototyping and personal fabrication.