Computational Design of Transforming Pop-up Books

We present the first computational tool to help ordinary users create transforming pop-up books. In each transforming pop-up, when the user pulls a tab, an initial flat two-dimensional (2D) pattern, i.e., a 2D shape with a superimposed picture, such as an airplane, turns into a new 2D pattern, such as a robot. Given the two 2D patterns, our approach automatically computes a 3D pop-up mechanism that transforms one pattern into the other; it also outputs a design blueprint, allowing the user to easily make the final model. We also present a theoretical analysis of basic transformation mechanisms; combining these basic mechanisms allows more flexibility of final designs. Using our approach, inexperienced users can create models in a short time; previously, even experienced artists often took weeks to manually create them. We demonstrate our method on a variety of real-world examples.