Final : Periodic Sectional Modeling

Periodic sectional modeling is a novel technique for creating digital models. The idea for this speculative software stems from the way different drawing types are given preference within architectural movements. During the international modernism movement the plan was given preference. As Le Corbusier boldly stated, "the plan is the generator...". Today, largely as a result of digital modeling software, the section is given preference. The section is perhaps the best drawing and representational technique for understanding form and space.

PSM is helpful to anyone who needs to sketch in a spatially rich manner. You can think of this tool as being somewhere between physical model building (here for an example) and sketching. The majority of architectural and design software today is only applicable for representation of an idea once that idea has been thoroughly developed with sketches and physical models. The primary strength of PSM is that it allows the designer and artist to spatially explore sketches and concepts in a manner more congruent with traditional sketching. This software fills the large gap between sketching an idea on a napkin and creating construction drawings in autocad. To see the software being used, please click on the following quicktime movie:

psm movie

Another point of the system that encourages improvisation and open ended exploration is the mutability of the input device. The system uses camera vision as it's primary input, thus any object can be placed within the field of vision and used as an input. See here for some specific examples. One could use a piece of ribbon to create curvilinear forms similar to the way drafting splines used to be utilized or more gestural space could be explored by capturing the outline of ones hand as it moves.

white board

hand

ribbon

The camera vision system developed for PSM can easily be calibrated for various light conditions and varying degrees of contrast in a given scene. The threshold level for both the web cam and the blob detection is simply adjusted with the keyboard. The user also has control over the amount of image blur applied to the captured video. Thus the software spans the range from a faceted to more blob like representation of the input. Here is a simple example. Click to see a larger version:

The sectional geometry of the system lends itself to being rapid prototyped. Technologies such as laser cutting allow a sectional model to rapidly be produced. The next step in this software is to allow for the export of models in the dxf file format so they may be rapid prototyped. This functionality is currently being added to the software and the results of taking models built with the PSM software into the physical realm will be documented here soon.