Virtual Anatomy Laboratory
The Virtual Anatomy Lab is a place to immerse yourself in a 3D virtual environment and
organize your approach to learning anatomy. Through access to a anatomical terms database
(the foundational model), 3D mesh database, messaging database, and 2D illustrations, a user
can move freely in six dimensions to view a virtual cadaver. Or, multiple users can share a session
together, each represented in 3D space by a simple model.
The foundational model drives the VAL by focusing learning to one anatomical term at a time (though
the fm allows for learning through up to fifteen relationships). The cadaver, messaging database, and
2D illustrative atlas are all connected via user mouse clicks. For example, when a user clicks on a
term on the VAL blackboard (like the Lung as seen in Figure 1), the appropriate model loads in on the
cadaver table (see Figure 2).
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| Figure 1 | Figure 2 |
A message database is accessed through push pins added to the scene. Push pins and 2D illustrations
also are accessed by anatomical term. Networking and navigation controls are provided by the
underlying Virtual Playground software system built by the UW HIT Lab.
Navigation allows for independent camera manipulation by each user. In Figure 3, and user has
chosen to switch to a down looking perspective.
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| Figure 3 |