The God-Finger Method for Improving 3D Interaction with Virtual Objects through Simulation of Contact Area

In physically-based virtual environments, interaction with objects generally happens through contact points that barely represent the area of contact between the user's hand and the virtual object. This representation of contacts contrasts with real life situations where our finger pads have the ability to deform slightly to match the shape of a touched object. In this paper, we propose a method called god-finger to simulate a contact area from a single contact point determined by collision detection, and usable in a rigid body physics engine. The method uses the geometry of the object and the force applied to it to determine additional contact points that will emulate the presence of a contact area between the user's proxy and the virtual object. It could improve the manipulation of objects by constraining the rotation of touched objects in a similar manner to actual finger pads. An implementation in a physics engine shows that the method could make for more realistic behaviour when manipulating objects while keeping high simulation rates.