This is an implementation of the Lp-dist field approach for smoothly approximating the distance to a given surface.
@article{belyaev2013signed,
title={Signed Lp-distance fields},
author={Belyaev, Alexander and Fayolle, Pierre-Alain and Pasko, Alexander},
journal={Computer-Aided Design},
volume={45},
number={2},
pages={523--528},
year={2013},
publisher={Elsevier}
}