Abstract: The manufacturing conditions of pottery are too strict which definitely restrict the spread of
ceramic culture. To solve the problem, an immersive pottery modelling system equipped with Leap
Motion and HTC Vive is developed, which is, and enables users to go through real pottery production
process with their bare hands, free from the barrier of physical condition and. In terms of structure,
the pottery is divided into three parts: the top, the side and the bottom. The side part derives from a
simple generic homogeneous cylinder, while its profile deformation is controlled by Gaussian
function. In terms of interaction, according to real pottery making scene as well as the characteristics
of pottery structure, the system designs a series of user-friendly hand gestures and designates the
operating range. And it’s supposed to improve the sense of reality and immersion of the experience,
combined with motion capture and virtual reality technology, while the controllability of pottery
deformation is guaranteed. In order to prove the superiority of system performance, this paper
conducts a contrast experiment and proposes a target-practice variance computing method. In addition,
a questionnaire which involves four evaluation indicators (immersion, completion, operative
difficulty and enjoyment) is carried out, well verifying the system’s superior user experience.

Key words: virtual reality, pottery making experience, Leap Motion, human-computer interaction, 3D
modeling