FIELD JOURNAL

Human Body Modeling and Scanning a Reality

I am still hard at work on the S3 Project, Somatic Sciences Simulation, making it a reality. You can read more about this project in my last journal . The technology used will be mentioned in an upcoming Discovery Channel program, "The Ultimate Guide to Mummies" starting October 30, 2000.

The reason this technology was chosen to be showcased in this particular program is because the National Library of Medicine was commissioned to make digital representations of a human body -- a Texas Death Row prisoner. This prisoner donated his body to science, as one last attempt to contribute positively to society. After his execution, his body was sliced in one-millimeter slices, with these slices being digitally recorded via scanning. The preservation of mummies in Egypt is compared to this digitized mummy. The segment is about five to seven minutes long. I am looking into making this part of the program accessible from this site, in the future.

Dr. Rice was interviewed for the program, which was filmed partially here in Houston, at the Virtual Environment Research Institute (located on the University of Houston - Main campus). The filming crew also spent a bit of time in Huntsville, Texas, getting information on the prisoner who donated his body to this project.

As far as the S3 Project goes -- we are continually developing the thorax, and hope to have it integrated and demonstrated by the end of this year. Though funding for the project (a continual challenge) arrived late, we are still expecting completion on time. Since my last journal, the upper and lower extremities have been integrated. We also have a head and neck representation. I have invested so much of my time and soul into this project, and am so gratified when each step is completed.

I had to find a test subject, Dominic Del Rosso, to wear the sensor sweater. This sweater has a suite of sensors, which gather data -- pressure, temperature, humidity, accelerometers (motions) -- from Dominic's body. (The sweater is manufactured by Ultra-Lightweight Structures, in California.) This data refers to the contact based on loads and forces made by the suit to his body. This is important in reducing fatigue and streamlining tasks during space walks. The whole objective of the S3 Project is to allow for rapid prototyping and personalized fit of the extra-mobility units (EMUs), or spacesuits, worn by the astronauts. Once the virtual EMU and the virtual human are completed, a huge engineering integration will begin.

Let me explain; system engineering is being able to look at the big picture, system integration is making the pieces work together, and that leaves system testing to make sure it all works properly together, which must be done throughout the process and not when each component is complete. A big part of the integration process is to do these tasks in parallel with each other, not linearly (one after another). Build a little, test a little, build a little, test a little - throughout the life cycle of the project. I can't say this enough -- system engineering and systems integration is the skill of the 21st century.

NASA has also featured the S3 Project in their August 2000 Technology Briefs. Several other magazines, besides Computer Graphics World, are also interested in this project, and are planning articles: Popular Science (November 2000), Electronics Today - India, Aerospace America. Unfortunately, we won't be exhibiting the S3 Project this year during Inspection Day 2000.

You can read more about the upcoming Discovery show at the Discovery channel website, and find the dates and times of the broadcast . The show's premiere is scheduled for October 30, 2000 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern/Pacific Time.

I hope you enjoy the show!