Towards virtual humans in medicine: a prospective view.

In this paper, we first explain how we create virtual humans today and how we simulate their movements. Then we explore the impact of computer-generated humans on medical research and education. In the area of orthopedics, we discuss the simulation of motion with joint illness and prosthesis. We then explain the simulation of effects of plastic surgery and facial deformations on facial motion and speech. In surgery, a graphics database of organs, combined with the impact of virtual reality, may lead to surgical interventions in a virtual world. Psychiatry research may also find important new tools in behavioral and knowledge-based animation research. Finally, we explain the next generation of patients: virtual people with real virtual bones and soft tissues.