Gaussian Curvature Entropy for Curved Surface Shape Generation

The overall shape features that emerge from combinations of shape elements, such as “complexity” and “order”, are important in designing shapes of industrial products. However, controlling the features of shapes is difficult and depends on the experience and intuition of designers. Among these features, “complexity” is said to have an influence on the “beauty” and “preference” of shapes. This research proposed a Gaussian curvature entropy as a “complexity” index of a curved surface shape. The proposed index is calculated based on Gaussian curvature, which is obtained by the sampling and quantization of a curved surface shape and validated by the sensory evaluation experiment while using two types of sample shapes. The result indicates the correspondence of the index to perceived “complexity” (the determination coefficient is greater than 0.8). Additionally, this research constructed a shape generation method that was based on the index as a car design supporting apparatus, in which the designers can refer many shapes generated by controlling “complexity”. The applicability of the proposed method was confirmed by the experiment while using the generated shapes.