ITL’s Ressler co-chairs and helped establish the Medical Working Group in Web3D Consortium
Sandy Ressler, of the Information Access Division, took the lead in establishing a new Medical Working Group within the Web3D Consortium. The Web3D Consortium recently approved creation of this new Medical Working Group (MedWG) which will identify opportunities for standardization in the medical simulation and training industry that fit well within the framework of the Web3D Consortium. When several medical doctors expressed interest in exploring how to work with the Web3D Consortium, Ressler took the lead in interfacing with them, soliciting other interested parties, and developing a charter document, necessary for establishing a formal working group. Enabling technologies for medical training and simulation, such as the use of haptics (applying tactile sensation to human interaction with computers), will be examined as candidates for further development within the context of Web3D standards such as X3D. One long-term goal will be to enable the creation of interoperable medical training and simulation systems using open standards. The current co-chairs of the new Medical Working Group are Sandy Ressler (NIST) and Nigel John (University of Wales). Active participants have included Jeff Taekman M.D. (Duke University) and Justin Couch (Yumetech). The medical domain and integration with formal web standards offers a host of potential improvements for interoperable systems.