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For release: 06/05/03
Release #: 03-091

CROOKS, CRIMINALS AND SADDAM BEWARE!
NASA-developed technology helping put lawbreakers behind bars

From bombings and other homeland security threats, to child
abductions, to verifying the "real" Saddam Hussein, a video
enhancement system developed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
in Huntsville, Ala., is proving to be a valuable law enforcement
tool. It's helping agencies investigate crimes - and, put criminals
behind bars. 

It's been an unlikely outcome for an invention that started out as an
effort by two space scientists to come up with a tool to assist in
their studies of the Sun and weather systems on Earth.

The technology known as VISAR - short for Video Image Stabilization
and Registration - can turn dark, jittery images captured by home
video, security systems and video cameras mounted in police cars into
clearer, stable images.

NASA scientists Dr. David Hathaway and Paul Meyer, who study violent
explosions on the Sun and examine hazardous weather conditions on
Earth, created VISAR to aid in their space-program research. Now,
through NASA's commercial licensing process, the technology has
become available in the marketplace and is increasingly finding
applications with down-to-Earth benefits.

VISAR has been licensed commercially by Intergraph Corp., of
Huntsville and incorporated into Video Analyst, a workstation that
can stabilize and enhance video, brighten dark pictures and enlarge
small sections of pictures to reveal clues about crimes. The system
is built around the industry-standard Microsoft Windows operating
system and Adobe Premiere video editing software.

"VISAR has a proven track record in delivering solid video evidence
and is of paramount importance in our success with Video Analyst,"
said Trey McKay, manager of Integrated Products Division, Intergraph
Solutions Group. 

The VISAR "track record" includes about a dozen criminal cases where
Hathaway and Meyer have assisted police departments and the FBI. The
first, and still most notable, in the string of investigations was
analysis of video from the infamous bombing in Atlanta's Centennial
Park during the 1996 Olympic Summer Games. In that incident, Hathaway
and Meyer worked with the bureau to enhance poor quality video clips.

More recently, ABC News asked Intergraph's Gene Grindstaff to analyze
video clips that aired on Iraqi television March 20, apparently
showing Saddam Hussein. Officials wanted to verify if Hussein
survived a U.S. air strike the previous day, or whether the video was
that of a body double. Using Video Analyst with VISAR, it took about
90 minutes to compare the ABC footage to prior Iraqi television
images of Hussein and determine - with 99 percent certainty - it was
Hussein, Grindstaff said. 

Demonstrated capabilities such as these apparently are convincing for
customers. A Chicago-area law enforcement association -- the South
Surburban Mayors and Managers Association - purchased Video Analyst
specifically based on its inclusion of the NASA-developed VISAR,
McKay said. The association pooled resources to buy Video Analyst and
15 portable units, making the system available to 43 municipalities
in the Illinois counties of Cook - which includes the city of
Chicago - and Wills. 

Last year, three Marshall Center employees, including Hathaway, Meyer
and Sammy Nabors of Marshall's Technology Transfer Department, won
the Federal Laboratory Consortium's Excellence in Technology Transfer
Award for VISAR. Nabors works with Marshall scientists interested in
patenting their inventions, and his department encourages companies
to license products for commercial applications.

VISAR was named NASA's Commercial Invention of the Year in March.
Hathaway and Meyer were also nominated by NASA to compete for the
national Inventor of the Year Award and they were among the five
finalists in the competition, which yearly recognizes outstanding
American inventors whose work has been patented or made commercially
available. 

NASA's Technology Transfer Program improves life on Earth with
technology developed in the space program. To learn more about VISAR
and the Marshall Center, visit the Marshall Technology Transfer
Department Web site at: 

http://techtran.msfc.nasa.gov/

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