Variational Barycentric Coordinates
This work provides a novel method for computer graphics and geometry processing, allowing for enhanced control in applications such as mesh deformation and interpolation, though it is incremental in advancing existing coordinate techniques.
The authors tackled the problem of optimizing generalized barycentric coordinates by proposing a variational technique using neural fields, which offers more control than existing models and enables flexible objective functions like smoothness and deformation-aware energies.
We propose a variational technique to optimize for generalized barycentric coordinates that offers additional control compared to existing models. Prior work represents barycentric coordinates using meshes or closed-form formulae, in practice limiting the choice of objective function. In contrast, we directly parameterize the continuous function that maps any coordinate in a polytope's interior to its barycentric coordinates using a neural field. This formulation is enabled by our theoretical characterization of barycentric coordinates, which allows us to construct neural fields that parameterize the entire function class of valid coordinates. We demonstrate the flexibility of our model using a variety of objective functions, including multiple smoothness and deformation-aware energies; as a side contribution, we also present mathematically-justified means of measuring and minimizing objectives like total variation on discontinuous neural fields. We offer a practical acceleration strategy, present a thorough validation of our algorithm, and demonstrate several applications.