Virtual and Augmented Reality for Educational Anatomy

Abstract

Recent progress in VR and AR hardware enables a wide range of educational applications. Anatomy education, where the complex spatial relations of the human anatomy need to be imagined, may benefit from the immersive experience. Also the integration of virtual information and real information, e.g., muscles and bone overlaid on the user's body, are beneficial for imaging the interplay of various anatomical structures. VR and AR systems for anatomy education compete with other media to support anatomy teaching, such as interactive 3D visualization and anatomy textbooks. We discuss the constraints that must be considered when designing VR and AR systems that enable efficient knowledge transfer.