Collision Handling for Virtual Environments

Abstract

An efficient and realistic collision handling mechanism is fundamental to any physically plausible Virtual Environment. In this tutorial, we will first examine the applications of collision handling, and introduce the open problems in this area. We will then provide a detailed introduction to the many different approaches, past and current, to the problems of collision detection and contact modelling. The construction and evaluation of the wide range of bounding volume hierarchies used for collision detection will be discussed, as will the particular problems associated with deformable object animation. The next issue to be addressed is the problem of collision response, and finally we will discuss perceptual issues relating to this topic.