Learning to create 3D models via an augmented reality smartphone interface

The ordinary way of creating 3D models (a.k.a. 3D modeling) requires people to sit in front of the computer for a long time working with professional software. The license fees of these software are expensive, and it is very time consuming and not easy to learn. Teachers sometimes find difficult to teach students the concept of 3D modeling because the newbies need to spend a lot of time to familiarize with the tool interface beforehand. In this paper, we introduce a mobile application that assists students to learn 3D modeling skills and concepts. We provide a natural modeling style with the aid of Augmented Reality (AR). Through a smartphone user interface, the user builds a model with primitive blocks in a "bottom-up" manner like "LEGO" bricks. These blocks are visualized on the printed marker cards that allow users to manipulate (rotate, translate, etc.) them in the same way of manipulating real building blocks. User studies have been conducted and we have identified some aspects that help people to model 3D objects.