A chemistry research project at York University is to look into the feasibility of virtual reality technology as an aid to drug design. The pharmaceuticals company Glaxo Plc, IBM UK Ltd and Bristol-based virtual reality specialists Division Ltd are also involved. (IBM’s decision to to commission Division to add its virtual reality software as an extension to the RS/6000 was announced last March (CI No 1,878), and the company is apparently very interested in the pharmaceutical industry as a potential market for the resulting DVS/Univers system). York revealed at a British Association meeting last week that it would be using the combination of its ProVision system with the RS/6000 to examine protein structures. Virtual reality helmets will give researchers the illusion of being surrounded by molecular images. These structures can then be manipulated and rearranged in new patterns with the use of a three-dimensional mouse. Although the system produces crude images by comparison with high-resolution graphics, the ease with which operators can move around and interact with them is regarded as more than compensation. Division’s system presently costs UKP50,000 but it is expected that this price will come down – presumably as increasing numbers of pharmaceutical companies opt to invest in the new technology.
