The project began as an attempt to simulate the behavior of a human heart using an open‑source soft‑body physics engine. The original approach relied on surface‑based soft body meshes, where each vertex in the mesh was treated as a mass point connected to nearby points through springs. This method, inherited from the Jelly Engine, generated springs exponentially relative to the number of vertices. Although computationally inefficient, it produced acceptable results for simple, low‑resolution models because the dense spring network created the illusion of internal volume, allowing the mesh to deform elastically despite being only a surface representation.

As the project progressed, it became clear that this technique did not scale to more complex or high‑resolution meshes. The exponential growth of spring connections caused severe performance issues, instability, and frequent simulation crashes. These limitations made the original method unsuitable for realistic anatomical models like a human heart, which require both geometric detail and stable real‑time deformation.

To overcome these constraints, the project shifted toward generating true volumetric soft bodies through tetrahedralization. Tetrahedral meshes provide an internal structure composed of volumetric elements rather than just surface triangles, enabling more stable and physically meaningful simulations. This approach aligns with common practices in real‑time soft body physics and allows the engine to handle more complex shapes while maintaining performance.

The current state of the project focuses on integrating tetrahedral volume generation into the Jelly Engine pipeline. By converting surface meshes into tetrahedral volumes and using these as the basis for soft‑body dynamics, the simulation becomes more robust, scalable, and suitable for anatomically inspired models. While the project diverged from the initial goal of a full heart simulation, it resulted in a more advanced and technically sound foundation for future soft‑body modeling.

Github Repository

https://github.com/DanielaHz/Real-Time-Soft-Body-Simulations-with-OpenGL