Systems and methods for manipulating a virtual environment

Abstract

One variation of a method for manipulating virtual objects within a virtual environment includes: determining a first position of a touch sensor within real space; based on the first position of the touch sensor within real space, bounding a virtual surface of a virtual object within the virtual environment tractable through inputs across the touch sensor; generating a first force vector comprising a magnitude related to a force magnitude of a first input on the touch sensor surface and a direction related to an orientation of the touch sensor within real space; locating an origin of the first force vector within the virtual environment based on a first location of the first input on the touch sensor surface and the first position of the touch sensor within real space; and manipulating the virtual surface of the virtual object within the virtual environment according to the first force vector.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A method for manipulating virtual objects within a virtual environment comprising:
 at a first time, determining a first position of a touch sensor within a real space, the touch sensor comprising a touch sensor surface;   based on the first position of the touch sensor within the real space at the first time, bounding a virtual surface of a virtual object within the virtual environment tractable through inputs across an area of the touch sensor surface;   generating a first force vector comprising a magnitude related to a force magnitude of a first input on the touch sensor surface and a direction related to an orientation of the touch sensor within the real space at the first time; and   manipulating the virtual surface of the virtual object within the virtual environment according to the first force vector.   
     
     
         2 . A method for manipulating virtual objects within a virtual environment comprising:
 tracking an orientation of a touch sensor surface within a real space;   orienting a virtual object globally within the virtual environment based on the orientation of the touch sensor surface in the real space;   receiving a touch image defining a magnitude and a position of a force input on the touch sensor surface;   rotating the virtual object locally about a first axis within the virtual environment based on the position of the force input on the touch sensor surface; and   rotating the virtual object locally about a second axis within the virtual environment based on the magnitude of the force input on the touch sensor surface, the second axis perpendicular to the first axis.   
     
     
         3 . A method for manipulating a virtual environment comprising, at a first time:
 mapping a touch sensor surface to a virtual surface in a virtual environment;   receiving a touch image defining a magnitude and a position of a first force input on the touch sensor surface;   defining a direction of a first vector based on the position of the first force input;   defining a magnitude of the first vector based on the magnitude of the first force input; and   manipulating the virtual surface within the virtual environment according to the magnitude and the direction of first vector.