20 October 2004
Ongoing research unveiled
Photo opportunity: 5.30pm, Thursday 21 October, Lamb Gallery, Level 1, Tower Building, University of
Dundee, Nethergate, Dundee DD1 4HN, preview of exhibition.
University of Dundee's Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) PhD students will present
an update on their specialist areas of research at an exhibition opening on Friday. The public are
invited to come along and see first hand the type of research that is underway from a project to develop
an interactive model of the shipwreck the 'Swan' that sank during a violent storm in 1653 to John
McGhee's use of animation technology to develop the way medical images are presented to patients.
John McGhee is using the same graphics technology that created the magnificent special effects in the
'Lord of the Rings' trilogy to develop new ways of presenting medical scans and images to patients, after
his earlier MSc work concluded considerable shortfalls existed in the way medical images such as CT and
MRI scans are presented to patients.
Medical scanning equipment collects significant amounts of data from our internal body spaces that medics
use for reference but these images are purely diagnostic and are not patient friendly. In his research
with radiologists John has shown that captured in two-dimensional slices, the interpretation of medical
images can cause confusion, anxiety and fear amongst both patients and their families.
He is now using software commonly used in the computer games and film industries and applying it to the
medical sector to develop the standard 2D scans into 3D images and animation footage that medics could
use to help demonstrate to patients their illness and treatment.
In this cross-departmental project between the Department of Clinical Radiology at Ninewells Hospital,
Dundee and DJCAD John is bringing together expertise from the medical field and his computer graphics
background to come up with novel design approaches that could assist both medics and patients
Also on display is Chris Rowland's research that investigates the benefits of 3D visual data compared to
traditional 2D techniques. Chris is using data collected from a twelve-year study of the shipwreck, the
'Swan', the ship that sank during a violet storm in the Sound of Mull in 1653 to develop an interactive
model of the site. Chris, a Course Director of Masters in Animation and Visualisation intends to develop
an interactive model of the site using a combination of traditionally recorded data and the new 3D data.
Jenny Millar's investigation into children's physical and psychological perceptions of the built
environment will be on show. Her study, 'Child responsive architecture: a learning tool' is focussed on
producing a set of design considerations that architects could use in future to produce designs that
consider children more responsibly than at present.
Sandra McNeil explores and questions what constitutes the learning process within Higher Art Education,
examining how this process is framed and facilitated within the institutional context of a Scottish art
school.
Nuno Sacramento, a PhD student who lives and works between Portugal, Scotland and The Netherlands is
looking at alternative ways of how to curate and design exhibitions and he provides an alternative model
to the exhibition on show.
The exhibition opens on Friday 22 October until 12 November in the Lamb Gallery, Level 1, Tower Building,
University of Dundee, Nethergate, Dundee DD1 4HN.
The exhibition preview takes place on Thursday 21 October from 5.30pm.
Opening hours: Mon-Fri: 9.30am-8pm, Sat: 9.30am-4.30pm.
By Angela Durcan, Press Officer 01382 344910, out of hours: 07968298585, a.durcan@dundee.ac.uk | 
