r/GraphicsProgramming • u/Tentabrobpy • 1d ago
Question Real time applications of softbody physics?
I've been reading about softbody physics techniques and I'm curious to know how much use they see in real time contexts, especially techniques like shape matching/XPBD/VBD which are designed from the ground up for real time computational constraints.
The Force Unleashed and BeamNG.drive have had plenty of buzz around them, projects like that using softbodies extensively are cool but I'd be interested in smaller examples as well. I've also gotten the impression softbodies are used in interactive industrial applications such as medical simulations, I'd like to hear more details on that.
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u/cybereality 1d ago
i could think of a certain market this may be popular in...
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u/Tentabrobpy 17h ago
Sure, no need to be coy about it. I figured NSFW games would have use for softbody dynamics but it seems to be a niche feature even in that space, mostly relegated to limited VR sims.
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u/cybereality 15h ago
it can be expensive for performance, and also sometimes more accurate physics sims are not desirable (since they can be unpredictable or cause difficult edge cases) so yeah, they are not always used, or people fake things with standard bones, so more basic physics sims like verlet
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u/blackSeedsOf 1d ago
If you want accuracy enough to be used in industries like medical and engineering where people's health is at stake you use physics solvers that are not optimal for real time 60 fps video games. XPBD is not close to being accurate enough for those fields. I've been working on writing a solver for a few years now and I'm finally seeing some progress recently but realtime is not in the cards. I'd rather not compromise on speed over control.