A tiltmeter-integrated two element optical relative alignment monitor provides relative alignment and contact sensing and can provide precise information regarding the nature of physical contact experienced by objects being monitored. A computer monitor can display the information in real time, in an intuitive manner. This system can provide all the information with good resolution in a low-cost, easily installable package for a wide variety of research, high energy physics applications, and industrial uses. A projector unit is mounted on one component containing a diffuse light source, a coded mask, and a lens. The projector is aligned with a camera to receive the focused image. Shifts in the image of the mask indicate relative motion between the camera and the projector unit. A tiltmeter is affixed to either the camera or projector, to distinguish between image shifts due to translational movement and image shifts due to rotation or tilting.