Patents by Inventor Barbara M. Balents

Barbara M. Balents has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • System and method for deforming objects using delta free-form deformation
    Patent number: 5818452
    Abstract: A system and method for deforming objects uses delta free-form deformations (DFFD). The DFFD computes a delta vector based on a conventional free-form deformation (FFD) and an original vertex. Multiple delta vectors can be computed and combined for each vertex. Because delta vectors are independent from each other, various operations such as rotations and translations in addition to multiple overlapping deformations are applied to the vertex with superior results over the conventional FFD.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 1995
    Date of Patent: October 6, 1998
    Assignee: Silicon Graphics Incorporated
    Inventors: James R. Atkinson, Barbara M. Balents
  • Volume-based free form deformation weighting
    Patent number: 5796400
    Abstract: A system and method for weighting one or more vertices in a region being deformed by free-form deformation techniques assigns a weight a vertex based on the position of that vertex within the deformation lattice. The assigned weight is used to alter the amount of displacement that the free-form deformation would otherwise have on the vertex by an amount proportional to the weight.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 1995
    Date of Patent: August 18, 1998
    Assignee: Silicon Graphics, Incorporated
    Inventors: James R. Atkinson, Barbara M. Balents