Rapid collision detection for deformable objects using inclusion-fields applied to cloth simulation

Abstract We introduce an inclusion-field technique for fast detection of collisions between a highly deformable object and another object with limited deformations. We mainly target the cloth simulation application where cloth (highly deformable) collides with deforming skin of a moving human model (has limited deformation as skin stretches and compacts within finite spacial and temporal limits specified by the bending angle and speed). Our technique intermixes concepts from space voxelization and distance fields to make use of the limited deformation nature of human skin. The technique works by discretizing the space containing the object into cells, and giving each cell an inclusion property. This property specifies whether this cell lies inside, outside, or on the surface of the deforming object. As the object deforms, the cells’ inclusion properties are updated to maintain the correctness of the collision detection process. We tested our technique on a generally deforming Bezier surface, and on cloth simulation to detect collisions between cloth and several articulated and deforming human body parts. Results showed that the inclusion field allows real-time collision detection between cloth and limited deformable objects on a standard PC. The technique is simple and easy to implement.