Snakes on triangle meshes

In this work we introduce a new method for representing and evolving snakes that are constrained to lie on a prescribed surface (triangle mesh). The new representation allows to automatically adapt the snake resolution to the surface tesselation and does not need any (unstable) back-projection operations. Furthermore, it enables efficient and robust collision detection and gives us complete control on the topological behaviour of the snakes, i.e. snakes may split or merge depending on the intended task. Possible applications include enhanced mesh scissoring operations and the detection of constrictions of a surface.