3D Euler spirals for 3D curve completion

Shape completion is an intriguing problem in geometry processing with applications in CAD and graphics. This paper defines a new type of 3D curve, which can be utilized for curve completion. It can be considered as the extension to three dimensions of the 2D Euler spiral. We prove several properties of this curve - properties that have been shown to be important for the appeal of curves. We illustrate its utility in two applications. The first is fixing curves detected by algorithms for edge detection on surfaces. The second is shape illustration in archaeology, where the user would like to draw curves that are missing due to the incompleteness of the input model. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.