Development of a VR-based educational software for the gross anatomy by simulating practical exams

• Main Authors: Yi-FeiHe, 何依霏
• Other Authors: Yu-Hua Fang
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/67msbr

碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 生物醫學工程學系 === 107 === Anatomy is a medical discipline that is vital for students and people who engage in medical care. Traditional anatomy teaching methods include lectures and gross dissection. Images in textbooks or atlases are two-dimensional, therefore unable to clearly express the relative relationship between human structures. To increase learning efficiency, students conduct anatomical experiments to gain insights into the structures of the human body. Since the human cadaver is a precious and scarce educational resource, not all medical related students have the opportunity to enter the dissection room. With the use of virtual reality (VR) technology, simulations of actual objects can be produced and thus reduce the consumption of cadavers. Some researchers pointed out that using VR has the potential to enhance student interest in learning. As a result, a VR-based educational software for gross anatomy was developed to simulate practical exams. Our target group was students whom have learnt anatomy previously however have limited to no cadaver access. We expect to enhance students’ motivation of learning by the highly immersive and entertaining characteristics of VR. Based on Bodyparts3D model, our human model was imported into Cinema 4D for further modifications. A virtual environment was then created using a popular game engine on the market, Unity3D. Finally, HTC Vive was utilized as the device to execute the software. 21 students from National Cheng Kung University participated in the testing of the software which consists of 100 questions. The statistical results showed that 90% of the participants felt that the software was user-friendly and helpful in preparing anatomy-related tests. This shows that our software can enhance students' interest in learning. A future aim would be to incorporate the software as a method of anatomy teaching to identify if there are positive impacts on students' self-learning ability.