# Shallow Signed Distance Functions for Kinematic Collision Bodies

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.06719 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.06719/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 13 of its 28 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 11 Nov 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 13 of 13)

- [Adam: A Method for Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6980/) (2014)
- [DeepSDF: Learning Continuous Signed Distance Functions for Shape Representation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.05103/) (2019)
- [Deep Local Shapes: Learning Local SDF Priors for Detailed 3D Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.10983/) (2020)
- [Learning Shape Templates with Structured Implicit Functions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.06447/) (2019)
- [MetaSDF: Meta-learning Signed Distance Functions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.09662/) (2020)
- [Neural-Pull: Learning Signed Distance Functions from Point Clouds by Learning to Pull Space onto Surfaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.13495/) (2020)
- [CLOTH3D: Clothed 3D Humans](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.02792/) (2019)
- [iSDF: Real-Time Neural Signed Distance Fields for Robot Perception](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.02296/) (2022)
- [Self-Supervised Collision Handling via Generative 3D Garment Models for Virtual Try-On](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.06462/) (2021)
- [GarNet: A Two-Stream Network for Fast and Accurate 3D Cloth Draping](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1811.10983/) (2018)
- [DeePSD: Automatic Deep Skinning And Pose Space Deformation For 3D Garment Animation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2009.02715/) (2020)
- [NeUDF: Leaning Neural Unsigned Distance Fields with Volume Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.10080/) (2023)
- [A Repulsive Force Unit for Garment Collision Handling in Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.13871/) (2022)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We present learning-based implicit shape representations designed for real-time avatar collision queries arising in the simulation of clothing. Signed distance functions (SDFs) have been used for such queries for many years due to their computational efficiency. Recently deep neural networks have been used for implicit shape representations (DeepSDFs) due to their ability to represent multiple shapes with modest memory requirements compared to traditional representations over dense grids. However, the computational expense of DeepSDFs prevents their use in real-time clothing simulation applications. We design a learning-based representation of SDFs for human avatars whoes bodies change shape kinematically due to joint-based skinning. Rather than using a single DeepSDF for the entire avatar, we use a collection of extremely computationally efficient (shallow) neural networks that represent localized deformations arising from changes in body shape induced by the variation of a single joint. This requires a stitching process to combine each shallow SDF in the collection together into one SDF representing the signed closest distance to the boundary of the entire body. To achieve this we augment each shallow SDF with an additional output that resolves whether or not the individual shallow SDF value is referring to a closest point on the boundary of the body, or to a point on the interior of the body (but on the boundary of the individual shallow SDF). Our model is extremely fast and accurate and we demonstrate its applicability with real-time simulation of garments driven by animated characters.