Early experiences with a 3D model search engine

New acquisition and modeling tools make it easier to create 3D models, and affordable and powerful graphics hardware makes it easier to use them. As a result, the number of 3D models available on the web is increasing rapidly. However, it is still not as easy to find 3D models as it is to find, for example, text documents and images. What is needed is a “3D model search engine,” a specialized search engine that targets 3D models. We created a prototype 3D model search engine to investigate the design and implementation issues. Our search engine can be partitioned into three main components: (1) acquisition: 3D models have to be collected from the web, (2) analysis: they have to be analyzed for later matching, and (3) query processing and matching: an online system has to match user queries to the collected 3D models. Our site currently indexes over 36,000 models, of which about 31,000 are freely available. In addition to a text search interface, it offers several 3D and 2D sha...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: VRML
• Authors: Patrick Min, John A. Halderman, Michael M. Kazhdan, Thomas A. Funkhouser
• Keywords: 3D Model, 3D Model Search, Search Engine, VRML 2003