MIT researchers have devised a technique that “reverse engineers” complex 3-D computer-aided design (CAD) models, making them far easier for users to customize for manufacturing and 3-D printing applications.

From a single image, humans are able to perceive the full 3D shape of an object by exploiting learned shape priors from everyday life. Contemporary single-image 3D reconstruction algorithms aim to solve this task in a similar fashion, but often end up with priors that are highly biased by training classes.