C/NET

THE NEW EDGE

Program 321

Airs: January 24, 1999



LESSON PLAN



Segment 1: Top Story (Freeze Framing)

BACKGROUND

This segment takes a look at the latest advertising craze: those commercials where the action suddenly stops, as if frozen in time. The technique is called freeze-framing, and it's the hottest new technology for TV commercial production.

Dayton Taylor, inventor of the Timetrack camera, explains how it separates the two kinds of movement in motion pictures: the movement of the subject in front of the camera, and the movement of the camera through space. The result is that there's a reference in the shot that shows time is passing but the subject isn't moving. The mind registers, "That's impossible!"

Dayton's company, Digital Air, Inc., works with a design company, Electrokinetics, to produce different kinds of cameras for different effects. In each, a shutter system opens and closes a number of shutters in sequence while a section of high speed film feeds past the lenses.

The largest camera uses 160 lenses and can be set up in an arc or a straight line. A smaller camera does a 120 degree close-up arc around an object. Another one has a shutter system that allows even more control: it moves vertically through the camera so you can program the sequencing of the shutters into the way the shutter strips are punched.

Matting and blue-screening add even more possibilities to the special effects cinematographers can achieve with Timetrack freeze-framing. Impossible as the illusions created by the Timetrack camera system may seem, they capture viewers' attention, and advertisers are using Dayton's cameras on locations throughout the world.

Digital Air and Electrokinetics are developing the next generation of Timetrack cameras as well as interactive products such as an electromechanical toy car and a virtual clock.


RESOURCES

Read more about the Timetrack system and Digital Air's plans for other future interactive applications at: http://www.virtualcamera.com. (The opening page requests identification for access to the site. For ID, enter your first name only; for Title or Occupation enter "Student"; and for Company, enter the name of your school.) To see the layout of cameras, click on "Production." Find photos from commercials you may have seen on TV by clicking on "Sample Work." To learn about future applications, click on "The Future."

Read about Dayton Taylor, Digital Air, Inc., Electrokinetics, and Timetrack freeze-framing camera systems in current magazines in your library or on the Web. For example, there's an article about him in American Cinematographer (Vol. 77, No. 9, September, 1966 or at http://www.virtualcamera.com/ascmag.html).


ACTIVITIES

1. Think of an interesting company, favorite product, or service. Design a television ad for it using the Timetrack camera and freeze-framing techniques. Draw a storyboard (like a cartoon that shows the sequence of your film shots) for the ad. Display it and discuss your special effects with the class. As a group, select a few and send them on to Digital Air for ideas for their future work.

2. Form small groups. Think of ways freeze-framing could be used in movies to enhance stories or to suspend belief. Then outline a concept for a screenplay based on your ideas.

3. Find out more about special effects used in movie production. List current films that have interesting examples. When viewing films, note the firms that produce the effects and find out more about them. Share your list and findings with the class.




Segment 2: Anesthesia Monitor

BACKGROUND

This segment features a new technique for training anesthesiologists. Anesthesiologist training is crucial because during surgery, there's a very real danger that patients can be under- or over-anesthetized and either wake up or worse, not awaken at all.

Inspired by simulation training designed for airline pilots, Dr. David Gaba of Stanford University's Medical School has created an environment where anesthesiologists can work through real surgical situations in a virtual environment that includes anesthesia machines, monitors, instruments, and a virtual patient.

The virtual patient is an anatomically correct, functional mannequin that's programmed to respond exactly like a human. He breathes spontaneously, has pulses that you can feel, and his pupils dilate or constrict, depending upon drugs he's been given or other conditions. A supervising staff in a simulator control room manipulates the mannequin's responses in order to create a challenging yet realistic scenario for anesthesiologists in training.

Another cutting-edge technology is the BIS or bispectural index, which reads brain waves by using an EEG, or electroencephalograph monitor. The BIS converts the changes in brain waves to a number that directly correlates to a patient's consciousness level and displays the number on a monitor. From that number, an anesthesiologist can instantly know if the patient is at satisfactory levels of consciousness for surgery.


RESOURCES

Visit Aspect Medical Systems' homepage for more information in the bispectural index (BIS) at http://www.aspectms.com/.

To learn a little about the history of anesthesia, visit "The Anesthesia Revolution of the 1800s: Early Experiments with Surgical Anesthesia" section of "The Relief of Pain and Suffering" exhibit at the Biomedical Library at UCLA at http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/biomed/his/PainExhibit/panel2.htm.

Visit The Center for Medical Simulation's webpage at http://www.harvardmedsim.org/links.html to access several sites that contain information on medical simulations. Some interesting ones to try are the Stanford Simulation Center, the University of Washington Simulation Center, and the Pittsburgh Simulation Center. From here, you can also go to Eagle Simulation, Inc., developers of the full-scale, computer-based mannequin system at http://www.eaglesim.com.


ACTIVITIES

1. Do research on the history of pain relief and anesthesia. Go to the library or do Web research. Find out what people used and when they used it to relieve pain and anesthetize patients during surgery and other procedures. Make a chart that illustrates your findings and present it to the class.

2. Visit "The Anesthesia Revolution of the 1800s: Early Experiments with Surgical Anesthesia" section of "The Relief of Pain and Suffering" exhibit at the Biomedical Library at UCLA at http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/biomed/his/PainExhibit/panel2.htm for online information about the history of pain relief.

3. Think of another simulator (such as the Eagle Patient Simulator) for use in medical training. Write a brief description of how the simulator works, and draw a diagram of it. Present your simulator to the class.

4. To get ideas, visit Eagle Simulation, Inc. at http://www.eaglesim.com/. Click on "Products" for more information about applications of computer technology in medical training.


EXTENSION

Go back to "The Anesthesia Revolution of the 1800s: Early Experiments with Surgical Anesthesia" section of "The Relief of Pain and Suffering" exhibit at the Biomedical Library at UCLA at http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/biomed/his/PainExhibit/panel2.htm.

In small groups, discuss the following questions:
  • How have people regarded pain and suffering over the years?
  • Has the relief of pain always been important throughout time?




Segment 3: Flying Formica (Indoor Skydiving)

BACKGROUND

In this segment, Sofie Formica tries skydiving without a plane and a parachute at Flyaway Indoor Skydiving in Las Vegas. It's one of only a few sites in the country where it's possible.

The Las Vegas Flyaway facility uses a 1200 horsepower engine and a DC-3 propeller to create a vertical wind tunnel that's specially padded. Divers jump into the wind and let it carry them vertically. A coach guides the diver's actions until he or she learns the techniques of flying. The idea was originally developed for pilot training.

Sofie's session begins with suiting up and a safety training session with her coach. Robert Ogle, Flyaway's "Flymaster", teaches her body control techniques, hand signals, and safety procedures. Her diving outfit includes a baggy suit made of zero porosity nylon that captures as much wind as possible as she tries to take off above the wire screen separating her from the propeller. She also wears goggles, earplugs, gloves, and a helmet for protection.


RESOURCES

Get more information on indoor skydiving from the Flyaway Indoor Skydiving locations in Las Vegas at http://www.pcap.com/flyaway.htm.


ACTIVITIES

1. Visualize yourself in Sofie's place and think through the movements and positions you'd try to make to fly in the wind tunnel. What might arching your back do? What about curling up into a ball? How would your hand, arm, foot, and leg positions affect your flight? What do you think would be the easiest and most difficult maneuvers? Compile your thoughts in a brochure entitled The First Timer's Guide to Virtual Indoor Skydiving, making it as humorous as you can.

2. Divide into small groups and design a wind and water theme park that uses wind and water pressure to create rides and attractions. Brainstorm for ideas that turn wind and water power into fun for kids of all ages. Think about the safety procedures and equipment needed for indoor skydiving and be sure your park has the proper gear, safety equipment, and procedures it needs. Draw up a master plan with descriptions and diagrams for each attraction. Share your group's work with the class and evaluate one another's ideas.




Segment 4: RC Racing

BACKGROUND To experience the thrill of auto racing, more and more enthusiasts are grabbing the wheel of a remote control unit and racing quarter scale remote control vehicles. Rick Tebb's of Rick's Motorsports explains that anything you can do with full-size racing cars, you can do with quarter scale cars. They're so accurately built that they perform just like the real thing.

For example, quarter-size racing cars have little working V-8 engines, hydraulic disc brake systems, and the same suspension systems as full-size cars. Even the fuels used are like those used for real race cars. Quarter-size racing cars can go about 55 to 65 miles per hour on the track.

To control them, you use the same kind of unit as for a ten-scale or eight-scale car. The remote control unit has a pistol grip with a trigger to work the gas and a wheel for the steering. To brake, you push forward on the throttle.

Quarter scale clubs are popping up all over. They organize events and classes and publish official rules for competitive events. They organize races in almost the same way as NASCAR events, such as running heats to determine qualifying positions for main events.


RESOURCES

Go to the Quarter Scale Auto Club's website at http://www.qsac.org/ or http://www.qsac.org/toc.htm to go directly to their table of contents for background on the sport, FAQs (frequently asked questions), race locations, and local clubs.

Visit NASCAR Online at http://www.nascar.com for information on full-size car racing.

Get information on other radio controlled sports from Tower Hobbies, a company that sells remote control models, at http://www.towerhobbies.com/intros/intro.html.


ACTIVITIES

1. To get an idea of "real" race car driving, watch a racing event on TV, or go to NASCAR Online at http://www.nascar.com and click on "Multimedia" to watch video clips of NASCAR racing. Imagine driving a real race car in a race. Then imagine racing a quarter-size version of the same car using a remote control unit. How do the two experiences differ? Make a chart illustrating the differences and similarities between the two experiences.

2. What other sports might use scaled-down, remote controlled vehicles? Do research to find out. Try sports and hobby magazines at the library, or go to Tower Hobbies' website at http://www.towerhobbies.com/intros/intro.html. Report your findings to the class.

3. What uses might powerful, sturdy quarter scale remote control vehicles have besides racing? List as many as you can think of for industrial, military, recreational, and transportation uses. Report your findings to the class.