Dr James Birt, Assistant Professor, Computer Games and Multimedia, and Dr Allan Stirling, Assistant Professor of Anatomy, recently held an official launch of their new 3D iPad app that describes the function and dynamics of the human heart. Aimed at taking the content of an anatomical textbook one step further, the 3D human heart which, when launched, can be used by students to examine a heart from every angle, is poised to revolutionise the way anatomy is taught. Instead of looking at the traditional two dimensional views of a human heart, students can now control their view and study the anatomical structures of the heart at greater depth.
The heart, which has been deployed onto iPads and as a web application, was developed using 3DS Max and Unity 3D. The comprehensive information contained in the e-book is a perfect example of the way that Bond is diversifying the delivery of education across its faculties.
Dr Stirling explains, "This work forms part of a research project looking at the pedagogical benefits of mobile learning and aims to see if student performance and understanding is increased by using multiple ways of delivering core information. The application caters for a variety of learning styles and includes 3-dimensional images, 2D images, audio narration and crosswords".