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R. Colin Johnson,EE Times, PORTLAND, Ore. - The National Science Foundation (NSF) is funding development of electronic visualization technology, providing $500,000 in seed money to the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

"Our budget is about one-fiftieth of a typical video game developer's," said researcher Jason Leigh, a UIC professor and director of its Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL). Still, "we think we can put together a working prototype by 2009."

The three-year effort will begin with graduate students spending several months shadowing an undisclosed NSF official to record his mannerisms, gait and lifestyle in a series of video and audio recordings. Back at the lab in Chicago, students will craft avatars that digitize all the visual aspects of the mystery NSF director.