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.
Remco C. Veltkamp, Berry Piest