March 16, 2023

Someday, Dr. Maria Bell predicts, there will be some form of medicine practiced in the metaverse.

The virtual universe still in its early stages of development lends itself to that, said Bell, a longtime gynecologic oncologist at Sanford Health.

Think about child psychology, she suggests.

“I think it’s less intimidating to talk to an avatar than a human being,” said Bell, who also has served on the Sanford Health board of trustees. “I think there will be medical applications in the metaverse, and so that’s how I started.”

With an eye toward the future of her field and a growing curiosity in the emerging technology, she bought a ticket to The Sandbox, a virtual world where participants can buy virtual land and use it to create and monetize their own, largely entertainment-related, experiences.

“I said, ‘I have to see it for myself, to see this technology and what it can do.’ All the big corporate people are there. Nike. Snoop Dogg. I went to a Snoop Dogg concert in The Sandbox,” she said. “All these big-name players are there, so you know they think there is value.”

What did it look like in health care? That wasn’t immediately clear.

But, at age 60, Bell had an MBA she says she has “never used” and an entrepreneurial bent that needed exploring.

“I’ve always been entrepreneurial and an innovator but never took a personal financial risk,” she said. “I told myself: ‘You’re 60. If you’re not going to do it now, you’re not going to do it,’ and I set a limit for how much I was willing to invest.”

While she continues to work full time in health care, she formed Digital Twin Imaging about a year ago — originally with the idea of places, services or assets related to medicine in the metaverse. She hired Elliot Barnes, a longtime family friend and recent SDSU grad with a degree in graphic design and an interest in new technology, and the two began learning how to use sophisticated cameras, drone and scanners.

“Elliott was assigned to scan everything he could – every relative’s house, some Realtors’. we did St. Mary’s Church, and the Catholic schools wanted to do the same thing for marketing purposes,” Bell said.

Then, helped along by what she calls “divine intervention” and “one serendipitous thing after another,” a powerful new application for the technology emerged: school safety.

A cold call to a friend in the Okoboji Lakes area of northwest Iowa connected her with the Dickinson County sheriff, and she sent him the sample scan of the church.

“It was very easy for him to navigate, and I said, ‘If we did a school and put information first responders would like, do you think it would be helpful?’”

Her company now has scanned every school in Dickinson County and is creating digital models that first responders can use if they need to enter during an emergency.

In addition to an immersive virtual display of the school, the model includes a real-time compass, information on fire alarms and even how long it’s estimated it would take to break through individual doors. A beacon can be placed within a model to identify where an individual – a shooter, for instance – is known to be located.

Barnes said he has started “putting together bigger and bigger models and pushing the limits of the capacity we can fill these models with. And now, we’re scanning full-size high schools.”

He estimates it would take 25 hours to scan a 150,000-square foot building with one person doing the work or as little as six hours with a small team. Then, there’s production time, walk-throughs with first responders and any needed edits.

“I know it’s going to save kids’ and teachers’ and first responders’ lives,” said Bell, who also has started a nonprofit for those who want to donate to create the models and for potential grants.

In Iowa, state funding for schools has allowed Digital Twin Imaging to move forward with its work.

“We have brought on consultants from SWAT, school administrators, emergency services and dispatch,” Bell said.

The proprietary aspect of the product is that the model can be deployed to first responders through existing emergency dispatch software.

“We demonstrated this by having all first responders report for mandatory training with the model,” Bell said. “There was a geofenced area that once the first responder crossed, our school model was deployed to the iPhone, Android or tablet that they carry.”

SWAT teams in northwest Iowa and southwest Minnesota tested the model in an active shooter simulation in an elementary school, Bell said. The team without the model required an average of seven minutes and 30 seconds to put two simulation rounds into the target.

“The teams with the model and information about rooms were able to do this on average in 31 seconds,” she said.

Greg Hiemstra, Harris-Lake Park high school and middle school principal; Bruce Lee, head of emergency dispatch for Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office and SWAT team medic; Dr. Maria Bell; Todd Schillinger, commander of SW Minnesota/NW Iowa SWAT team; Elliot Barnes.

Until now, she has done “zero marketing” and been quiet on social media about the company.

However, “I think we’re to the point we can do marketing now because the infrastructure is set,” Bell said. “We’re going county by county in Iowa … starting conversations there.”

She’s also working on a partnership with Augustana University’s multimedia entrepreneurship major to help further develop her technology.

“The metaverse has been around a decade, but it’s to the point where it’s more user-friendly,” she said. “The metaverse now is like when Facebook started to take off. There’s some functionality, but I see the vision, and I see where it’s going to go.”