We present an explicit method for simulating origami that can be rapidly computed
on a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). Previous work on origami simulation
methods model the geometric or structural behaviors of origami with a focus on
physical realism; in this paper we introduce a compliant, explicit numerical simulation
method that emphasizes computational speed and interactivity. We do this
by reformulating existing techniques for simulating origami so that they can be
computed on highly parallel GPU architectures. We implement this method in an
open-source, GPU-accelerated WebGL app that runs in any modern browser. We
evaluate our method’s performance, stability, and scalability to existing methods
(Freeform Origami, MERLIN) and demonstrate its capacity for real-time interaction
through a traditional GUI and immersive virtual reality.