A Haptic Rendering Algorithm for Molecular Interaction

Abstract

Haptic rendering is the process of calculating and displaying physical forces to a user. Used concomitantly with a virtual environment it can further enhance a user's immersive experience whilst they interact with computer graphics. Haptic Feedback has been applied to the study of molecular systems for several years, however, computation requirements have hampered progress. Most popular representations of molecules comprise of primitive shapes like spheres. Many molecules, especially proteins, potentially contain thousands of atoms each of which can be represented as a single sphere and will need to be processed for collision in the haptic rendering loop. Current systems often simulate stiff contacts with a proxy system based on tracking a point over planar surfaces. In this paper a novel method for the haptic rendering of a space filling molecule representation is presented. The technique reduces the time taken to detect and respond to the collisions and improves the overall spherical feel of the molecule by using the implicit description of spheres to track the surface as opposed to a polygonal approximation.