A Physiological Torso Model for Realistic Breathing Simulation

For the convincing modeling of virtual humans, realistic breathing is an important aspect. This paper is about the simulation of breathing, based on anatomical and physiological principles. We have built a torso, including a thorax, a deformable belly, and muscles. This results in a model with two independent breathing systems, namely abdominal and chest breathing, which gives a high degree of realism in simulating breathing. The generated spirograms, diagrams of lung volume changes, are comparable to normal human ones according to a medical expert. The generated videos show convincing breathing sequences at various frequencies. The model itself is made available for public use.