The Beauty of the Human Body Through the Lens of Computing

We create imaginative stories to immerse you in virtual worlds inside the human body.

Imagine being in a microscopic vessel traversing our body’s systems, organs, and cells. You can watch molecules creating the intricate machineries of life.

We build interactive explorations, self-directed adventures, and engage you in intriguing facts about how our body works, how it keeps itself alive, and how it maintains an intricate balance at so many levels of complexity.

Come join us on our voyages!

Our Team

Led by Dr. Christian Jacob, we are a team of  artists, designers, scientist, engineers, developers, producers, researchers, and educators from all disciplines. LINDSAY, a virtual human, replicates human anatomy and physiology in interactive and beautiful 3D. LINDSAY demonstrates the beauty and intricate complexity of the human body.

We are passionate about visualization, storytelling, computer science, art, design, and education.

Inspirations

Explore the spark of inspiration that created LINDSAY, our team’s passion for our research, and the history of our work together.

Current Work

Discover what we are currently creating. Read recent publications and learn about the success stories of our recent students.

Upcoming & Future Work

Pushing the boundaries of interdisciplinary research is core to our work. We actively engage in finding opportunities to collaborate. Learn how you can get involved.

Our Team

Glimpses of Our Work

Inspirations

LINDSAY’S Namesake

The LINDSAY Virtual Human project carries its name in memory of Dr. Lindsay Leigh Kimmett, who was a student of Undergraduate Medical Education in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary. At the prime of her medical training, Lindsay tragically passed away in 2008.

Lindsay’s parents — Dianne and Kelly — and family have been extremely supportive and enthusiastic about teaching & learning, and education of medical doctors and researchers, in particular. It had always been Lindsay’s vision to make the world a better place.

The LINDSAY Virtual Human project, which was initiated in 2009, is dedicated to Lindsay Kimmett. We are all highly inspired by Lindsay’s passion for life, and we hope to continue her vision and her desire to make our world a better place. Through our contributions and commitment to exceptional medical education we strive to continue Lindsay’s legacy.

Upcoming & Future Work

Always Collaborating

With the LINDSAY Virtual Human Project every discipline is eagerly included in our work. We actively seek opportunities to collaborate within our campus, our community, and beyond. 

Game

Publications

Adaptive agent abstractions to speed up spatial agent-based simulations

Published in Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory

Sarraf Shirazi, et al.

LINDSAY Virtual Human: Multi-scale, Agent-based, and Interactive

Published in Advances in Intelligent Modelling and Simulation: Artificial Intelligence-based Models and Techniques in Scalable Computing

Christian Jacob, et al.

Optimization of Swarm-Based Simulations

Published in ISRN Artificial Intelligence, vol. 2012

Sebastian von Mammen, et al.

Blog

Cell Gallery

Cell Gallery

We are experimenting with digital, walkable gallery spaces to display the intricate features of micro- and macro-worlds in our human bodies. Above is an example, the Cell Exploration gallery, to experience a neuron cell and a generic eukaryotic cell — on display in...

Giant Interactive Cell Project

Giant Interactive Cell Project

The Giant Interactive Cell (GIC) project is being developed by Mika Ong and Finn Vamosi. Dr. Christian Jacob and Owen Brierley are overseeing the direction of this research. On July 20th, the lab team presented a work-in-progress demonstration of the GIC to our...

Would you like to get involved?

Are you interested in what we are working on, and would you like to get some more details? Would you like to see our research lab in action? Are you interested to join our team — as a student, collaborator, or sponsor? We are more than happy to hear your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions. Please reach out to us. We look forward to hearing from you.

Please email Christian Jacob: cjacob at ucalgary dot ca