Mixed reality enhances neuroanatomy studies at UBC
By Kristy Schiewe
Global News
Posted August 28, 2017 2:57 pm EST
Updated August 28, 2017 9:44 pm EST
2 min read
This article is more than 7 years old and some information may not be up to date.
Today's Global News Hour at 6 Health Matters is brought to you by Pharmasave.UBC researchers are using Microsoft HoloLens and mixed reality technology to get inside your head and allow students to see the brain’s 3D structure in a way they never have before. Tanya Beja reports – Aug 28, 2017
Students at the University of British Columbia (UBC) are getting a unique opportunity to explore the brain thanks to virtual reality technology.
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Microsoft’s new mixed reality technology, along with the HoloLens, is allowing students the chance to visualize the brain’s three-dimensional structure like they’ve never seen it before.
UBC worked directly with interns at Microsoft Garage in Vancouver to develop a new app for HoloLens, the first self-contained, holographic computer. Specifically known as the Holographic Brain Project, the app allows the overlay of two-dimensional MRI scans on correlating sections of the brain serving as an interactive teaching tool.
Dr. Claudia Krebs, a professor of anatomy in UBC’s faculty of medicine, believes the augmented reality of HoloLens will help establish a greater understanding to those students examining the architecture of the brain. “We’re very excited to be introducing the world of mixed reality into the classroom,” she said in a release.
Parker Holman, a PhD candidate in neuroscience at UBC, is hopeful the new technology could change the way neuroanatomy lessons are taught in the classroom.
“The first time I put on the HoloLens and saw the holographic brain, I was blown away,” he said. “It just shows you things that aren’t possible with the models or specimens that we have.”
Postdoctoral fellow Tamara Bodnar, who helped develop the Holographic Brain Project app, said when she was first studying neuroanatomy, it was hard to get a true understanding of the brain with only two-dimensional images in textbooks.
In the upcoming weeks, Krebs, Holman, and Bodnar will assess the educational value of the project within neuroanatomy education to see if it improves students spacial understanding of key relationships within the brain.
“UBC is a growing innovation hub and we’re eager to explore how new partnerships and technology can help us continue to advance and transform our education and research space and methods,” said Gail Murphy, vice president, research and innovation at UBC.
Last fall, UBC received 10 HoloLens devices, all donated by Microsoft.