A three-dimensional visualization model for intangible heritage of tie-dye handicrafts

This study focuses on the three-dimensional visualization of intangible cultural heritage of the tie-dye handicraft, proposing a craft logic-oriented virtual modeling method to reconstruct fabric shaping and dyeing in virtual space. Based on a particle system, it adds stretching, bending, and penetration constraints for an operation-responsive fabric structure, with bending constraint tolerance adjusted to simulate fabric stiffness. It virtualizes four key shaping operations, including folding, twisting, bundling, and clamping via geometric positioning, external forces, and constraints, respectively. For dyeing, it uses spatial confinement calculations to determine fabric sections’ dyeability for pattern generation and prediction. A comparative analysis of 3 virtual vs. real patterns (via image feature extraction and cluster analysis) showed virtual-real differences smaller than real patterns’ inherent variations, confirming the model’s fidelity and reliability. This provides a practical pathway for modeling traditional handicrafts, and also brings inspiring ideas for extending visual models to non-static, procedural targets in heritage preservation.