A survey on object deformation and decomposition in computer graphics

In a realistic world, objects are expected to change in appearance over time when exposed to their environment. Morphology changes can be important indicators of an object's make up and the environment in which it exists. Simulating changes in an object's appearance over time has become increasingly popular over the recent years. In this survey we will describe a number of methods used in computer graphics to simulate object morphology changes due natural influences, such as cracks, fractures, patina, corrosion, erosion, burning, melting, decay, rotting and withering. We will focus on approaches that consider effects which influence the geometry of the entire object, instead of the surface appearance alone. The methods described are categorised according to the natural phenomena that drive the appearance changes. We pay particular attention to the different object representation and deformation techniques used in current approaches. The aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive overview of the state of the art in the area of object morphology changes driven by the environment. Graphical abstractDisplay Omitted HighlightsWe present a state of the art report on object deformation and decomposition.We examine natural phenomena that lead to major object morphology changes.The focus is on effects which influence the structure and geometry of the object.The methods are categorised according to the phenomena that drive the deformation.We pay particular attention to object representation and deformation techniques.