I❤️MESH: A DSL for Mesh Processing

Code: GitHub

Paper: TOG (presented at SIGGRAPH Asia 2024) [PDF 23 MB]

Compiler and Examples [13MB ZIP]

Abstract:

Mesh processing algorithms are often communicated via concise mathematical notation (e.g., summation over mesh neighborhoods). However, conversion of notation into working code remains a time consuming and error-prone process which requires arcane knowledge of low-level data structures and libraries---impeding rapid exploration of high-level algorithms. We address this problem by introducing a domain-specific language (DSL) for mesh processing called I❤️️️MESH, which resembles notation commonly used in visual and geometric computing, and automates the process of converting notation into code. The centerpiece of our language is a flexible notation for specifying and manipulating neighborhoods of a cell complex, internally represented via standard operations on sparse boundary matrices. This layered design enables natural expression of algorithms while minimizing demands on a code generation back-end. In particular, by integrating I❤️️️MESH with the linear algebra features of the I❤️️️LA DSL, and adding support for automatic differentiation, we can rapidly implement a rich variety of algorithms on point clouds, surface meshes, and volume meshes.

BibTeX:

@article{li2024iheartmesh,
 author    = {Li, Yong and Kamil, Shoaib and Crane, Keenan and Jacobson, Alec and Gingold, Yotam},
 title     = {{I Heart MESH}: {A} {DSL} for Mesh Processing},
 journal   = {ACM Trans. Graph.},
 year      = {2024},
 month     = {oct},
 volume    = {43},
 number    = {5},
 articleno = {154},
 numpages  = {17},
 doi       = {10.1145/3662181},
 issn      = {0730-0301},
 keywords  = {Meshes, geometry processing, domain-specific language},
 abstract  = {Mesh processing algorithms are often communicated via concise mathematical notation (e.g., summation over mesh neighborhoods). However, conversion of notation into working code remains a time-consuming and error-prone process, which requires arcane knowledge of low-level data structures and libraries—impeding rapid exploration of high-level algorithms. We address this problem by introducing a domain-specific language (DSL) for mesh processing called I Heart MESH, which resembles notation commonly used in visual and geometric computing and automates the process of converting notation into code. The centerpiece of our language is a flexible notation for specifying and manipulating neighborhoods of a cell complex, internally represented via standard operations on sparse boundary matrices. This layered design enables natural expression of algorithms while minimizing demands on a code generation backend. In particular, by integrating I Heart MESH with the linear algebra features of the I Heart LA DSL and adding support for automatic differentiation, we can rapidly implement a rich variety of algorithms on point clouds, surface meshes, and volume meshes.},
}

See also the publisher (ACM) web page.