The team of virtual reality (VR) experts from Curiscope are using the technology to allow a peek inside the human body… without all the messy surgery. Using the free VR application, the Virtuali-tee transforms from a high-quality t-shirt with a cool design to an animated model of the human body held within.
The shirt itself features what looks like a pixelated representation of the human ribcage and spine, but viewing it through the application reveals an animated view into the human chest cavity, complete with beating heart, lungs, liver, intestines, and more. Moving around the wearer allows the user to look at organs in detail and tapping points of interest brings up more information on the device’s screen. With this X-ray vision-like view into the body, the Virtuali-tee application can teach facts about anatomy and transform smartphones and tablets into “immersive virtual reality educational adventures.”
Image Credit: Curiscope
We talked with Josh Morse, a pre-med student at Rice University who immediately saw the value in the Virtuali-tee as not only an educational tool but as an inspirational one. Josh donates time every semester to Rice Empower, a service venture in which students, physicians, and scientists seek to inspire local K-12 students to potentially enter science-related fields. He immediately thought that wearing a Virtuali-tee when visiting these students could be a way for them to see what the study of biology might be like at the University level.
Too often we feel detached from learning. We study the body in school but only in a textbook, on a screen, or with a solid model. This kind of technology lets us interact with the anatomy and explore it in animated 3D, and this kind of learning can happen anywhere, at any time. Have you ever wondered what it looks like inside of the heart? Now you can actually experience it!
— Ed Barton, Curiscope CEO
Andy Robertson, a Family Video-game Expert for the BBC who runs the Family Gamer TV series (and fellow GeekDad Core Contributor) put together the following video after he had some time with Ed Barton from Curiscope.
A crowd-funding campaign launched this morning to bring the Virtuali-tee to market, and it has a variety of rewards, including an Early Bird reward of the finished Virtuali-tee with a choice of colors and sizes for a pledge of just £18 (about $25) or more.