Google Does it Again! Body Browser: Google Earth for the Human Body

Google keeps making free applications that offer a rich, educational, and totally immersive virtual experience that is out of this world. I have blogged earlier about the first of these applications, Google Earth. This program, with it's integrated birds-eye and street view, it's place-markers, 3D buildings, photos, and videos is breathtaking. With specialized overlays for historical and biblical places and events it has become a leading technology app for the Jewish Day School classroom. If you have not taken a look recently, you should because Google Earth keeps getting better with additional views of the sky, ocean, the moon and Mars.



Now Google has done it again, this time for the human body. Welcome to Body Browser a beta product of Google Labs. This web-based program features a full virtual tour of the human body with separate layers for the Muscular System, Skeletal System, Digestive System, Circulatory System, and Nervous System. To the left, is a picture of the controls to navigate to the different layers. The transparency of each of these layers can be adjusted individually for a unique user experience. If one wants a more detailed description of what one is seeing one can click the Show Labels button on the bottom of the slider and labels will appear for the various organs on the screen.


Besides the slider to adjust the different layers, one can navigate through the body by moving in and out using the zoom and by moving up and down and in a circular motion using the scroll wheel so that one can easily focus in on any part of the body. One can also type specific organs or systems into the search bar similar the way one would type locations into the search bar in Google Earth to navigate directly to that part of the body.





Below are a number of screenshots so you can get a feel for the amazing precision and detail of this program.

Here is a video demonstration of the Body Browser and its various layering tools:




Limitations:
Since this program is a brand new Beta version, it has some limitations one should be aware of before trying to use it. Although, it requires nothing to install since it is purely web-based, one will find after navigating to the website: http://bodybrowser.googlelabs.com/ that the program probably will still not appear since it does not work in standard web browsers. The simplest way to run the program is by downloading and installing the latest Beta version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. This will mitigate one using it in a networked school environment without getting permission and assistance installing the Chrome or Firefox Beta from the network administrator. The program also currently only comes with a virtual female model since, unlike G-d in the book of Genesis, Google created woman first. A virtual male model should be available in the Body Browser in the coming weeks.

Applications to Education:
This program can transform a middle school or high school science class. When projected on a Smart Board, students can easily navigate to various organs themselves by touching the board and can choose the level of detail they would like to focus on. Since the program is so detailed and versatile, it can be used in almost any level class from middle school science to 9th grade Biology, to AP Biology and Anatomy. Today, I showed it to one of my teachers who teaches both 9th grade Biology and a Junior elective in Anatomy. I could see her excitement as she glanced through the website for the first time. This program should be an excellent tool not only for frontal learning in class but for student review out of class. Since it is purely web-based and merely requires installing a Beta version of Chrome or Firefox, it will easily work on almost any students' personal computer both Mac and PC. A teacher can even design an online quiz or WebQuest for students to complete based on the Body Browser to direct them to the various areas they should be focusing on.

I highly recommend that you give the Body Browser a try for yourself and please continue to share with me your thoughts.