# NeuVAS: Neural Implicit Surfaces for Variational Shape Modeling

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.13050 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.13050/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 13 of its 57 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 16 Jun 2025.

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

- [Adam: A Method for Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6980/) (2014)
- [SGDR: Stochastic Gradient Descent with Warm Restarts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1608.03983/) (2016)
- [DeepSDF: Learning Continuous Signed Distance Functions for Shape Representation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.05103/) (2019)
- [Implicit Neural Representations with Periodic Activation Functions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.09661/) (2020)
- [Implicit Geometric Regularization for Learning Shapes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.10099/) (2020)
- [Neural-Pull: Learning Signed Distance Functions from Point Clouds by Learning to Pull Space onto Surfaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.13495/) (2020)
- [DiGS : Divergence guided shape implicit neural representation for unoriented point clouds](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.10811/) (2021)
- [Geometry-Consistent Neural Shape Representation with Implicit Displacement Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.05187/) (2021)
- [Iso-Points: Optimizing Neural Implicit Surfaces with Hybrid Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.06434/) (2020)
- [Phase Transitions, Distance Functions, and Implicit Neural Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.07689/) (2021)
- [Globally Consistent Normal Orientation for Point Clouds by Regularizing the Winding-Number Field](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.11605/) (2023)
- [Neural-Singular-Hessian: Implicit Neural Representation of Unoriented Point Clouds by Enforcing Singular Hessian](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.01793/) (2023)
- [The Surfacing of Multiview 3D Drawings via Lofting and Occlusion Reasoning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1707.03946/) (2017)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [SharpNet: Enhancing MLPs to Represent Functions with Controlled Non-differentiability](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.19683/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Neural implicit shape representation has drawn significant attention in recent years due to its smoothness, differentiability, and topological flexibility. However, directly modeling the shape of a neural implicit surface, especially as the zero-level set of a neural signed distance function (SDF), with sparse geometric control is still a challenging task. Sparse input shape control typically includes 3D curve networks or, more generally, 3D curve sketches, which are unstructured and cannot be connected to form a curve network, and therefore more difficult to deal with. While 3D curve networks or curve sketches provide intuitive shape control, their sparsity and varied topology pose challenges in generating high-quality surfaces to meet such curve constraints. In this paper, we propose NeuVAS, a variational approach to shape modeling using neural implicit surfaces constrained under sparse input shape control, including unstructured 3D curve sketches as well as connected 3D curve networks. Specifically, we introduce a smoothness term based on a functional of surface curvatures to minimize shape variation of the zero-level set surface of a neural SDF. We also develop a new technique to faithfully model G0 sharp feature curves as specified in the input curve sketches. Comprehensive comparisons with the state-of-the-art methods demonstrate the significant advantages of our method.