A method and system are provided for controlling the simulated interfacing
of a controlled first body, for example a tool, with a second body while
providing haptic feedback to a user on such interfacing. Selected
representations of the first and second bodies are stored in a memory of
a processing apparatus and are used by such apparatus to control
simulated movement of the first body relative to the second body in
response to a user controlled haptic interface device. Collisions between
the first and second body are detected, including the position on each
body of each collision, the direction of the collision and the force of
the collision, and this information is converted for each collision into
a force vector on the first body which is fed back as a corresponding
force vector to the interface device, and thus to the user. A feature of
the invention is storing a point cloud representation of at least one of
the bodies, which point cloud representation is utilized in the
simulations. The representations may also be an implicit equation
representation, a binary space tree partition representation or the like.
A niceness factor may also be utilized in determining force feedback as
may a guide zone around at least a portion of one of the bodies which,
for example, may be utilized to provide a snap-fit. Other features are
also provided.