Book excerpt: This volume contains the invited papers presented at the IUTAM Symposium on Multibody Dynamics and Interaction Control in Virtual and Real Environments held in Budapest, Hungary, June 7−11 2010. The symposium aimed to bring together specialists in the fields of multibody system modeling, contact/collision mechanics and control of mechanical systems. The offered topics included modeling aspects, mechanical and mathematical models, the question of neglections and simplifications, reduction of large systems, interaction with environment like air, water and obstacles, contact of all types, control concepts, control stability and optimization. Discussions between experts in these fields made it possible to exchange ideas about the recent advances in multibody system modeling and interaction control, as well as about the possible future trends. The presentations of recent scientific results may facilitate the interaction between scientific areas like system/control engineering and mechanical engineering. Papers on dynamics modeling and interaction control were selected to cover the main areas: mathematical modeling, dynamic analysis, friction modeling, solid and thermomechanical aspects, and applications. A significant outcome of the meeting was the opening towards applications that are of key importance to the future of nonlinear dynamics.