Virtual Reality Piques Life Scientists' Interest, Despite Obstacles

Obstacles Author: Ricki Lewis Sidebar: Science Studios Anyone who's played a video game, gazed up in a planetarium, or taken Disney World's trip through the human body has glimpsed computer-created environments. Adding to that the ability to interact with the cyberworld produces what is popularly known as "virtual reality" (VR). Although life-sciences applications of the technology are just beginning, already variations on the VR theme are proving valuable in such areas as new drug development, teaching and investigating chromosome structure, and communicating with colleagues. The subject of two television shows (Fox's "VR5" and ABC's "Sliders"), monthly conferences and exhibitions, and proliferating articles, VR is very much in the public and scientific eye. And this month marks the debut of the Journal of Medicine and Virtual Reality, published by New York-based Virtual Reality Solutions Inc., reflecting increasing interest in that very applied market. The technology "will become a basic scientific research tool, as soon as the price comes down," predicts Andrew Belmont, an assistant professor of cell and structural biology at the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign. A recent report from the National Research Council (NRC), Virtual Reality: Scientific and Technological Challenges (Washington, D.C., National Academy Press, 1995), concludes that the field is still fledgling, citing an "extremely high 'excitement-to- accomplishment' ratio." The report-- produced by a committee of computer scientists, engineers, and psychologists from universities, private foundations and companies, and government laboratories convened in 1992--cites the four most promising "application domains": design, manufacturing, and marketing; medical and health care; hazardous operations; and training. Although this list excludes scientific investigation, the report singles out scientific visualization--the use of computer graphics to create images that clarify data--as an area "generally recognized as a major and growing application" of the technology. NRC uses the term "synthetic environment" instead of "virtual reality." Such environments differ from computer simulations in detail and in personal involvement. They are more flexible, operate in real time, present images in three rather than two dimensions, involve multiple senses, and immerse the user. Warren Robinett, president of Video Games Inc. in Chapel Hill, N.C., explains the differences. "You can simulate biological systems in various ways. The simplest is to run numbers, say of predator and prey." Robinett previously directed the VR program at the University of North Carolina, and before that was a research scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Ames Research Center. The fuller experience of a virtual environment requires bulky gear. Generally the user wears a head-mounted display consisting of two liquid-crystal TV screens that flash different views in rapid succession (30 times per second) so that the user perceives a 3-D environment that he or she can actually step into. Sensing devices on the headgear monitor human responses, such as eye and head movements, and relay that information to the computer, which adjusts the images. Being The Bee Creating virtual environments is still prohibitively expensive (see accompanying story), but there is no limit on people's imaginations. For example, Robinett sees VR as "an interesting new method to study animal behavior and communication"-- providing the perspective of the object of study. He notes the fundamental work by ethologist Karl von Frisch, who deciphered bees' "dances" to communicate the location of food (The Dancing Bees, New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1961). More recently, researchers have simulated bees by introducing into a hive a computer-controlled robot bee that dances, vibrates, and squirts sugar water (corresponding to nectar) from its front end in the same angle that the food source is located from the sun. Robinett suggests producing a virtual bee hive, complete with a robot bee with sensors to detect surrounding activities and other virtual bees. A person could don head gear and move among the bees, observing them respond to the robot. Moving Molecules At the UNC computer sciences department, virtual environments are focusing on molecular biology. In a drug-receptor binding program available since 1989, the user can see a small molecule approach its receptor molecule, and even feel the chemical attractive forces guiding the movement. A lightweight headset provides the views of the molecules, and a device called a force-feedback arm offers a sense of "feeling." Well-Armed:A force-feedback arm offers a sense of "feeling" to molecular modelers using a drug-receptor binding program at the University of North Carolina's facility. A force-feedback arm is a type of "haptic interface," allowing a human hand to manipulate computer-created objects and to sense the objects' responses to contact. It is a joystick or bracelike device worn on the arm that reflects force emanating from the object, enabling a user to distinguish, for example, a fuzzy tennis ball from a smooth, hard billiard ball. "The computer calculates forces between the two molecules, and displays the forces through the arm. There is a certain remoteness to it, but it is a little like touching," notes William Wright, a research professor in the department. Newer projects at the lab are more interactive. A student, Mark Surles, developed SCULPT, which models a flexible molecule and allows the user to add extraneous forces. "It is like reaching in and pushing on one atom and simulating what would happen," Wright explains. Surles is developing SCULPT at a San Diego company, Interactive Simulations Inc. Another program developed at UNC reveals a molecule's solvent-accessible surfaces, important in predicting its reaction with other molecules. Entering The CAVE Illinois' Belmont takes his students on a most unusual field trip, courtesy of a virtual environment system called CAVE. CAVE was developed at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the University of Illinois in Chicago. It stands for Cave Automatic Virtual Environment, and also refers to "The Simile of the Cave" in Plato's Republic. Belmont's group traverses a DNA double helix wound to form a chromosome. "My lab is interested in chromosome structure, using Chinese hamster ovary cells in tissue culture. We do two types of reconstructions--physically thin sections, and thick sections, collected like a CT [computerized tomography] scan," Belmont says. A computer generates 3-D reconstructions from the scan data, and the CAVE facility translates them into a large-scale visual display. Grants from the National Science Foundation, the Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the Department of Energy support CAVE. According to the NRC report, at least 25 universities, 15 federal agencies, and 100 small and large companies in the U.S. are involved in the research and development of VR, although specific funding figures were not available. To use the CAVE, participants enter a 10 x 10 x 10-foot room consisting of three screens. A computer-controlled projector focuses overlapping, rapidly alternating images onto two walls and the floor, creating a continuous panorama. The leader wears a lightweight helmet and holds a wand, both of which are tethered to wires hanging from the ceiling and contain sensors that relay head and body movements to the computer, which adjusts the projected images. Others in the room wear untethered glasses and share the experience. "The result of viewing the projections with stereoscopic glasses is that you're looking in front of an object or at a distance, and can walk through the image," says Belmont. The University of Illinois lab opened in 1973. The CAVE debuted in 1992, aimed at allowing scientists to manipulate scenarios in ways not possible in the real world. Atoms in a molecule might be arranged to form a stronger alloy, organisms can be created with new genetic codes, or members of ecosystems may be removed or added. BioMOO Not all virtual experiences require headgear and touch-sensitive gloves--some just require a computer and imagination. BioMOO, for example, is an Internet-accessible virtual scientific meeting-- with real participants. Developed by Jaime Prilusky and Gustavo Glusman in 1994 at the Weizmann Institute of Science, BioMOO provides meeting rooms, laboratories, libraries, offices, seminar rooms, poster sessions, restaurants, and practically everything that is standard at a scientific meeting. "BioMOO is a set of virtual meeting rooms where people go to meet other biologists, run simulations, or discuss areas of mutual interest," says James Hutchins, an associate professor of anatomy at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Miss. The "moo" of "BioMOO" stands for "multiple-user dimension, object oriented," a term from computer games. Unlike the visual punch of the CAVE, the ambience of BioMOO is literary. A visit begins by reading a message describing a welcoming lounge. From there, a user enters "a large circular room, its ceiling a transparent dome through which sunlight streams in." Then one can consult a bulletin board, visit a lab, or even walk in the woods for a private talk with a colleague. It is a little like a more extensive "chat room" on America Online, notes Hutchins. Hutchins loves BioMOO, which he accesses at no cost. "It relieves my sense of isolation. A journal club on BioMOO brings together people of similar interests from all over the world, 20 to 30 people you couldn't get together at any one place except at national meetings--and they cost too much and have become too big for informal interactions." (Users don't actually see the other participants, but communication is in real time.) Feeling a drug approaching a cell-surface receptor, entering a beehive, strolling along a chromosome, and conversing with mentors a continent away--for life scientists, the potential of virtual environments seems endless. But the NRC report cautions that many obstacles remain--notably cost, comfort, and user response. Adds Michail Pankratov, director of research at the Otolaryngology Research Center for Advanced Endoscopic Applications at Tufts University and the New England Medical Center, both in Boston, "We need a few more years to sort out human factors to see if this technology is here to stay." Ricki Lewis is a biology textbook author and geneticist based in Scotia, N.Y. (The Scientist, Vol:9, #12, pg.14, June 12, 1995) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) garfield@aurora.cis.upenn.edu 71764.2561@compuserve.com The Scientist, 3600 Market Street, Suite 450, Philadelphia, PA 19104 U.S.A.

Virtual Reality Piques Life Scientists' Interest, Despite Obstacles

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