Exoskeleton: Curve network abstraction for 3D shapes

In this paper, we introduce the concept of an exoskeleton as a new abstraction of arbitrary shapes that succinctly conveys both the perceptual and the geometric structure of a 3D model. We extract exoskeletons via a principled framework that combines segmentation and shape approximation. Our method starts from a segmentation of the shape into perceptually relevant parts and then constructs the exoskeleton using a novel extension of the Variational Shape Approximation method. Benefits of the exoskeleton abstraction to graphics applications such as simplification and chartification are presented.