Java™ Media APIs: Cross-Platform Imaging, Media, and Visualization

Collision Detection and Avoidance

One of the most basic behaviors in 3D graphics is collision detection, defined here as the ability to detect the presence of one object relative to another. Collision detection is most often used to prevent the user from crashing through walls or tables and in this case is more precisely termed collision avoidance. We will generally refer to both detection and avoidance as collision processing unless the distinction is important to the discussion at hand.

In the design of virtual environments for free ranging navigation, collision avoidance is almost a requirement. Crashing through walls causes a great deal of spatial disorientation and tends to make users want to quit.

In Java 3D, collision processing (similar ...