Case Study 3: Guy Simplant

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Created for the outreach efforts of UWEB (University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials group) a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center, the Guy Simplant web site is an educational resource designed to introduce middle school students to the field of biomaterial science. UWEB develops new biomaterials which aid healing when used in human body implants. In the web site, students meet Guy Simplant, a secret agent working for the Scientific Bureau of Investigation. Guy gets hurt in a variety of situations, and the student must play through games and interactive illustrations in order to help and heal Guy. The Guy Simplant web site will eventually comprise several episodes. In the first episode (completed in 2001) Guy hurts his hand while parachuting. The player must create a new, artificial hand "implant" for Guy using ordinary household materials for bones, nerves, arteries, muscles, etc. The second episode of Guy Simplant (sponsored jointly by UWEB and the Hope Heart Institute) will be completed in fall of 2002. Guy will visit his physician, Dr. Z, and learn that he is at risk for heart disease. The player must help Guy improve his overall lifestyle choices (diet, exercise and stress management). If the player fails to make heart-healthy choices, Guy experiences a heart attack. The player then needs to build a "patch" which can replace the damaged part of the heart. The first Guy Simplant episode was developed by Assistant Professor Karen Cheng and two Visual Communication Design graduate students, Karen Gutowsky-Zimmerman and Wing Fong. An early, animated model of this episode eventually became a key case study in Wing Fong's MFA thesis. The Guy Simplant web site may be accessed at: www.guysimplant.org