In current image-based surgery, doctors rely on a monitor to guide the instruments they wield directly in front of them. It's a bit like using your rearview mirror to drive your car in reverse, except any mistakes lead to more than just a dented bumper.
Cognitive psychology professor Roberta Klatzky intends to change that. Her research in perception is playing a key role in developing technology that may soon project "ghost images" onto body parts to reunite perception and reality.
For her lifetime of contributions like this, Klatzky recently received two prestigious awards-the Humboldt Research Award and also the Koffka Medal from the Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen.
-Nicholas Ducassi (A'10)
