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With its unique hemispheres and intricate connections, the brain is one of the most exceptional, yet complex organs in the human body. The intricate structure has posed a unique challenge for generations of students looking to understand and ultimately master how its many parts fit, and work, together.<\/p>\n
But this fall \u2014 thanks to Microsoft HoloLens and mixed reality technology\u2014 University of British Columbia students will get to visualize the brain\u2019s 3D structure in a way they never have before.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first time I put on the headset, I was blown away by what I saw,\u201d said Parker Holman, a PhD candidate in neuroscience at UBC. \u201cTo be able to walk around and fully explore a detailed hologram of the brain from every angle is an experience that you can\u2019t quite put into words.\u201d<\/p>\n
UBC has teamed up with a group of interns from the Microsoft Garage to develop a new app for HoloLens, the world\u2019s first fully self-contained holographic computer. The new app, known as the Holographic Brain Project, will serve as an interactive teaching tool to guide students through a virtual exploration of the brain \u2014 highlighting, isolating, expanding, and rotating its many structures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no denying that the human brain is extremely complicated and that makes neuroanatomy difficulty to learn and teach,\u201d said Dr. Claudia Krebs, a professor of anatomy in UBC\u2019s faculty of medicine. \u201cWe\u2019re very excited to be introducing the world of mixed reality into the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holman and Krebs worked together with postdoctoral fellow Tamara Bodnar to help inform the development of the new Holographic Brain Project application at Microsoft. They believe the new technology could be a game changer for neuroanatomy instruction at the university.<\/p>\n
With advances in visualization tools and applications, like the Holographic Brain Project \u2014 which allows for the overlay of two-dimensional MRI scans on corresponding sections of the brain \u2014 learners are given an opportunity to dive deeper into neuroanatomy than ever before.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a young student studying neuroanatomy, I only had two-dimensional images in textbooks,\u201d recalls Bodnar. \u201cIt was difficult to get a true understanding of the spatial relationships that existed.\u201d<\/p>\n