The signed distance function also finds application in real physics simulations of fluids, where it goes under the name of "level set method". Ron Fedkiw, who's

The signed distance function also finds application in real physics simulations of fluids, where it goes under the name of "level set method". Ron Fedkiw, who's worked a lot on it, is one of very computational physicists who also holds an Academy Award. His homepage is very interesting: http://physbam.stanford.edu/~fedkiw/ http://physbam.stanford.edu/~fedkiw/