1. A method for reconstructing a vector-based model from a point cloud that represents a physical subject comprising: displaying at least a portion of the point cloud that represents the physical subject on a display screen of an electronic device, each point of the point cloud associated with a position in three-dimensional (3-D) space; receiving a selection of a seed of points in the point cloud that correspond to a particular physical feature of the physical subject, the selection received with a flashlight virtual tool having a field of view, points of the point cloud falling within the field of view being used as the seed of points; performing an automatic detection of a geometric primitive based on the seed of points, using an iterative algorithm that detects an initial geometric primitive based on the seed of points, uses the initial geometric primitive to determine an expanded set of points that include points outside of the seed of points, and detects a refined geometric primitive based on the expanded set of points, wherein the refined geometric primitive is returned as the detected geometric primitive; and producing a vector-based model using the detected geometric primitive.