Lara Croft in the Biology Department? It may seem unlikely, but the Virtual Anatomy project took her as inspiration, creating a virtual world in which our hapless heroine (a small piece of sweetcorn) swirls relentlessly through the human digestive system.
Apart from being great fun, Virtual Anatomy explored how the medium of 3D could be used to create novel resources for anatomy education. Rather than promoting interaction through inspection – the model in which a virtual object is rotated and magnified – the Virtual Anatomy team considered the potential for immersion and interactivity. Through this model, they hoped to actively engage students with the complex spatial features and relationships involved in anatomical knowledge.
The research concentrated on developing a prototype system, using a simple model of the digestive system and the Zanzarah game engine, kindly donated by Funatics Development. Key research questions included “What types of interaction, navigation and games-like engagement might be educationally valuable?”, and “How does spatial knowledge gained in such virtual environments translate into the real world?”
