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UI Researchers Creating 'Digital Humans'

By Tom Walsh
The Gazette
Sunday, November 16, 2003
All local content copyright © 2003 by Gazette Communications - Cedar Rapids, IA

IOWA CITY -- University of Iowa computer wizards are busy creating "digital humans" to test the performance of futuristic combat systems for the U.S. Army.

A 25-member College of Engineering research team is now being assembled to participate in what the Army terms "virtual soldier research." They will work under a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) grant worth as much as $17.5 million to the UI over the next five years.

"This is the science and research phase of the Army's transformation strategy to create the lighter, more advanced weapons systems that would be required to deploy a whole division anywhere in the world within 36 hours," said Karim Malek, the principal investigator for the research and an associate professor in the UI's Department of Mechanical Engineering and Center for Computer-Aided Design.

That new strategy envisions a futuristic arsenal that includes satellite-based and ground-based battlefield sensors, unmanned aerial vehicles, robotic direct-fire systems and other ordnance technologies still under development.

"We can use the computer to create and test mechanical systems that work, without the delay and expense of actually building them, which brings them to market faster and at a lower cost," Malek said. "But then you spend hundreds of thousands building, for example, a prototype of a new tank so that a soldier can run it up and down a hill for an hour and tell you what works and what needs work.

"We suggested eliminating that expense and delay by creating virtual humans that look, feel, walk and talk like real humans do, and we can do that by using predictive mathematical models that predict human cognition and behavior," he said. "They've done this to some degree in the (computer) gaming world, but what we're using here is real-time simulation."

The UI's Digital Humans Laboratory has already created two virtual humans -- a male named "Tony" and a female named "Ella."

Created with artificial intelligence programs that utilize digitized human anatomical data, the lab's own Adam and Eve are now being used in virtual reality modeling and simulation projects involving private-sector research contracts, including work for Iowa-based firms such as Rockwell Collins, Maytag, John Deere and HON Industries.

"These artificial intelligence programs enable a computer to understand intelligence by recording human behavior and using predicate calculus to both predict and create behavior," Malek said. "This allows task-based prediction of physical posture. One of things we can do with all this biomechanical information is measure human discomfort, fatigue and stress, all of which can impact a mechanical system's reliability when there's a human operator involved.

"That's something the Army is very interested in determining: How long a soldier can operate a piece a mechanical weapons system and stay alert. At what point does he need a break or a drink of water?"

The UI's new digital human efforts involve both pure and applied science research in modeling, simulation and design.

The research team now includes eight UI engineering faculty and four UI medical researchers. Also providing hands-on assistance are three post-doctoral students, 14 graduate students, four undergraduate students and four UI staff.

The project's first-year budget is $2.5 million, with equipment and personnel costing $1 million each and facilities costs budgeted at $500,000.

The five-year federal grant allows for expenditures each year of up to $3.5 million, with DoD approval, Malek said.

The research is not classified. A long-standing UI policy precludes top-secret research.

Malek is now busy recruiting collaborators from both the private sector and other research universities. Among those expected to be involved is Rockwell Collins, which has a long history of next-generation weapon system development for the U.S. military.