Haptic interface for population of a three-dimensional virtual environment

The disclosure provides an approach for populating a virtual environment with objects. In one embodiment, an editing application may track a handheld device using sensor data from a camera, by following an image displayed on the handheld device's screen. The editing application then updates the position of an object in the virtual environment according to the tracked position of the handheld device. Initially, the handheld device may be placed at a fixed location for calibration purposes, during which the editing application initializes a mapping between the virtual and physical environments. To add an object to the virtual environment, a user may select the object on the handheld device. The user may then place the object at a desired location and orientation in the virtual environment by moving the handheld device in the physical environment.