LAYERED CLOTHING THAT CONFORMS TO AN UNDERLYING BODY AND/OR CLOTHING LAYER

Abstract

An automated cage-to-cage fitting technique is used to fit arbitrary three-dimensional (3D) geometry to arbitrary target 3D geometry for 3D avatars in a 3D environment, such as an online game. Each graphical representation of items of clothing is provided with an inner cage and with an outer cage. The inner cage of a clothing item (a current layer) is mapped to the outer cage of another clothing item (a previous/underlying layer) that has already been fitted on the 3D avatar. This mapping enables the current layer to conform to the shape of the previous layer. The technique allows any body geometry to be fitted with any clothing geometry, including enabling layers of clothing to be fitted over underlying layer(s) of clothing, thereby providing customization.

Description

Claims

1. (canceled)

2. A computer-implemented method to provide layered clothing on a three-dimensional (3D) avatar, the method comprising: identifying an outer cage of a first piece of clothing that is fitted over an avatar body;mapping an inner cage of a second piece of clothing to the outer cage of the first piece of clothing to deform the second piece of clothing to fit over the first piece of clothing;identifying an outer cage of the second piece of clothing, wherein the outer cage of the second piece of clothing includes a plurality of points that envelope the second piece of clothing and that are separated from the inner cage of the second piece of clothing by a distance; andmapping an inner cage of a third piece of clothing to the outer cage of the second piece of clothing to deform the third piece of clothing to fit over the second piece of clothing.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein: the outer cage of the first piece of clothing includes a first plurality of points that envelope the first piece of clothing,the inner cage of the second piece of clothing includes a second plurality of points, andmapping the inner cage of the second piece of clothing to the outer cage of the first piece of clothing includes mapping the second plurality of points of the inner cage of the second piece of clothing to the first plurality of points of the outer cage of the first piece of clothing.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein: the plurality of points of the outer cage of the second piece of clothing that envelope the second piece of clothing comprises a third plurality of points, andthe distance spans between a point in the third plurality of points of the outer cage of the second piece of clothing and a corresponding point in the second plurality of points of the inner cage of the second piece of clothing.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising: identifying a body cage of the avatar body, wherein the body cage includes a plurality of points that envelope the avatar body; andmapping a plurality of points of an inner cage of the first piece of clothing to the plurality of points of the body cage to deform the first piece of clothing to fit over the avatar body.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the distance is amongst a plurality of distinct distances that separate the plurality of points of the outer cage of the second piece of clothing from the inner cage of the first piece of clothing.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the outer cage of the first piece of clothing envelopes a mesh of the first piece of clothing, and wherein the outer cage of the second piece of clothing envelopes a mesh of the second piece of clothing.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein: mapping the second plurality of points of the inner cage of the second piece of clothing to the first plurality of points of the outer cage of the first piece of clothing comprises a n:1 or 1:n mapping of the second plurality of points to the first plurality of points, andn is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, responsive to execution by a processor, cause the processor to perform or control performance of operations that comprise: identifying an outer cage of a first piece of clothing that is fitted over an avatar body;mapping an inner cage of a second piece of clothing to the outer cage of the first piece of clothing to deform the second piece of clothing to fit over the first piece of clothing;identifying an outer cage of the second piece of clothing, wherein the outer cage of the second piece of clothing includes a plurality of points that envelope the second piece of clothing and that are separated from the inner cage of the second piece of clothing by a distance; andmapping an inner cage of a third piece of clothing to the outer cage of the second piece of clothing to deform the third piece of clothing to fit over the second piece of clothing.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein: the outer cage of the first piece of clothing includes a first plurality of points that envelope the first piece of clothing,the inner cage of the second piece of clothing includes a second plurality of points, andmapping the inner cage of the second piece of clothing to the outer cage of the first piece of clothing includes mapping the second plurality of points of the inner cage of the second piece of clothing to the first plurality of points of the outer cage of the first piece of clothing.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein: the plurality of points of the outer cage of the second piece of clothing that envelope the second piece of clothing comprises a third plurality of points, andthe distance spans between a point in the third plurality of points of the outer cage of the second piece of clothing and a corresponding point in the second plurality of points of the inner cage of the second piece of clothing.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise: identifying a body cage of the avatar body, wherein the body cage includes a plurality of points that envelope the avatar body; andmapping a plurality of points of an inner cage of the first piece of clothing to the plurality of points of the body cage to deform the first piece of clothing to fit over the avatar body.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the distance is amongst a plurality of distinct distances that separate the plurality of points of the outer cage of the second piece of clothing from the inner cage of the first piece of clothing.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the outer cage of the first piece of clothing envelopes a mesh of the first piece of clothing, and wherein the outer cage of the second piece of clothing envelopes a mesh of the second piece of clothing.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein: mapping the second plurality of points of the inner cage of the second piece of clothing to the first plurality of points of the outer cage of the first piece of clothing includes a n:1 or 1:n mapping of the second plurality of points to the first plurality of points, andn is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

16. An apparatus, comprising: a memory having instructions stored therein; anda processor coupled to the memory, and operable to execute the instructions to cause the processor to perform or control performance of operations that include: identify an outer cage of a first piece of clothing that is fitted over an avatar body;map an inner cage of a second piece of clothing to the outer cage of the first piece of clothing to deform the second piece of clothing to fit over the first piece of clothing;identify an outer cage of the second piece of clothing, wherein the outer cage of the second piece of clothing includes a plurality of points that envelope the second piece of clothing and that are separated from the inner cage of the second piece of clothing by a distance; andmap an inner cage of a third piece of clothing to the outer cage of the second piece of clothing to deform the third piece of clothing to fit over the second piece of clothing.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein: the outer cage of the first piece of clothing includes a first plurality of points that envelope the first piece of clothing,the inner cage of the second piece of clothing includes a second plurality of points, andthe operation to map the inner cage of the second piece of clothing to the outer cage of the first piece of clothing include an operation to map the second plurality of points of the inner cage of the second piece of clothing to the first plurality of points of the outer cage of the first piece of clothing.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein: the plurality of points of the outer cage of the second piece of clothing that envelope the second piece of clothing comprises a third plurality of points,the distance spans between a point in the third plurality of points of the outer cage of the second piece of clothing and a corresponding point in the second plurality of points of the inner cage of the second piece of clothing,the operation to map the second plurality of points of the inner cage of the second piece of clothing to the first plurality of points of the outer cage of the first piece of clothing comprises a n:1 or 1:n mapping of the second plurality of points to the first plurality of points, andn is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise: identify a body cage of the avatar body, wherein the body cage includes a plurality of points that envelope the avatar body; andmap a plurality of points of an inner cage of the first piece of clothing to the plurality of points of the body cage to deform the first piece of clothing to fit over the avatar body.

20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the distance is amongst a plurality of distinct distances that separate the plurality of points of the outer cage of the second piece of clothing from the inner cage of the first piece of clothing.

21. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the outer cage of the first piece of clothing envelopes a mesh of the first piece of clothing, and wherein the outer cage of the second piece of clothing envelopes a mesh of the second piece of clothing.