Escher Sphere Construction Kit
Author(s): Jane Yen, Carlo Sequin.
Proceedings: 2001 ACM Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics,
2001.
[BibTeX] 
Abstract:
M.C. Escher created a myriad of amazing planar tessellations, yet only a few three-dimensional ones such as his wooden fish ball and dodecahedral flower. We have developed an interactive program to design and manufacture "Escher Spheres" - sets of tiles that can be assembled into spherical balls. The user chooses from a set of predefined symmetry groups and then deforms the boundaries of the basic domain tile; all corresponding points based on the chosen symmetry class move concurrently, instantly showing the overall result. The interior of the tile can be embellished with a bas-relief. Finally the tile is radially extruded and output as a solid model suitable for free-form fabrication.