Microsoft has illustrated how its Hololens headset could revolutionise education in a project launched in partnership with Case Western Reserve University in the US. Medical students, who previously could only use cadavers to understand the inner workings of the human body, were able to examine holographic representations of a living body using a prototype headset.
One of the students, Satyam Ghodasara, had already had taken the traditional anatomy class at Case Western Reserve, but it wasn’t until he used the HoloLens headset that he first visualised the aortic valve in its entirety—unobstructed by other elements of the cardiac system and undamaged by earlier dissection efforts.
With HoloLens, Griswold explained, “you see it truly in 3D. You can take parts in and out. You can turn it around. You can see the blood pumping—the entire system.â€
The project aimed to show that technology not only can match existing educational methods but can actually improve upon them. The details emerged at the Microsoft’s Developers’ Conference recently where Case Western Reserve University Radiology Professor Mark Griswold suggested disciplines as varied as art history and engineering could also benefit from the Hololens approach.
Case Western Reserve President Barbara R. Snyder said: “For more than a century, our medical school has been renowned for inventing and reinventing approaches to teaching and learning that take root nationwide.
“When we match that expertise with the interdisciplinary knowledge of our faculty, we create a rich environment to explore the educational potential of Microsoft’s extraordinary technology.â€
The university is currently working to create a full digital anatomy curriculum incorporating Hololens.