Patent ID: 7155673

Claim:
A system of interactive evaluation of a geometric model comprising: a computer system including a memory, a processor, a user input device, and a display device; a computer generated geometric model stored in said memory of said computer system; and a haptic interface operatively in communication with said computer system, wherein said haptic interface includes a haptic device for transmitting information between a user and the geometric model and wherein a haptic device position and orientation are acquired with respect to a surface of said geometric model and mapped into a geometric model coordinate reference system, a closest point position and orientation on the surface of said geometric model to the haptic device position is determined, a surface property of said geometric model at the closest point position and orientation is extracted, and a stick-to-surface force and a property-feedback force are determined and applied to said haptic device to constrain a motion of said haptic device to stick and be orientated normal to a virtual surface representing the surface of said geometric model, thereby constraining a hand of a user to always be on the surface to enable the user to explore and feel the geometric model.