3D Visualisation Aesthetics Lab, School of Art and Design, and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
3D Visualisation Aesthetics Lab, School of Art and Design, and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Nick Gunn
3D Visualisation Aesthetics Lab, School of Art and Design, and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Campbell Strong
3D Visualisation Aesthetics Lab, School of Art and Design, and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
3D Visualisation Aesthetics Lab, School of Art and Design, and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Benjamin J Bailey
3D Visualisation Aesthetics Lab, School of Art and Design, and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
James Rae
Institute for Molecular Bioscience, ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, and Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Institute for Molecular Bioscience, ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, and Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
3D Visualisation Aesthetics Lab, School of Art and Design, and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Our understanding of cellular and structural biology has reached unprecedented levels of detail, and computer visualisation techniques can be used to create three-dimensional (3D) representations of cells and their environment that are useful in both teaching and research. However, extracting and integrating the relevant scientific data, and then presenting them in an effective way, can pose substantial computational and aesthetic challenges. Here we report how computer artists, experts in computer graphics and cell biologists have collaborated to produce a tool called Nanoscape that allows users to explore and interact with 3D representations of cells and their environment that are both scientifically accurate and visually appealing. We believe that using Nanoscape as an immersive learning application will lead to an improved understanding of the complexities of cellular scales, densities and interactions compared with traditional learning modalities.
