Slice and Dice: A PhysicalizationWorkflow for Anatomical Edutainment

Information

• Publication Type: Journal Paper with Conference Talk
• Workgroup(s)/Project(s):
  • Visualization Group
• Date: October 2020
• Journal: Computer Graphics Forum (CGF)
• Volume: x
• Lecturer: Renata Raidou
• Event: PG2020
• Call for Papers: Call for Paper
• Conference date: 2020
• Pages: 1 – 12
• Keywords: Data Physicalization, Life and Medical Sciences, Anatomical Education

Abstract

During the last decades, anatomy has become an interesting topic in education—even for laymen or schoolchildren. As medical imaging techniques become increasingly sophisticated, virtual anatomical education applications have emerged. Still, anatomical models are often preferred, as they facilitate 3D localization of anatomical structures. Recently, data physicalizations (i.e., physical visualizations) have proven to be effective and engaging—sometimes, even more than their virtual counterparts. So far, medical data physicalizations involve mainly 3D printing, which is still expensive and cumbersome. We investigate alternative forms of physicalizations, which use readily available technologies (home printers) and inexpensive materials (paper or semi-transparent films) to generate crafts for anatomical edutainment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first computer-generated crafting approach within an anatomical edutainment context. Our approach follows a cost-effective, simple, and easy-to-employ workflow, resulting in assemblable data sculptures (i.e., semi-transparent sliceforms). It primarily supports volumetric data (such as CT or MRI), but mesh data can also be imported. An octree slices the imported volume and an optimization step simplifies the slice configuration, proposing the optimal order for easy assembly. A packing algorithm places the resulting slices with their labels, annotations, and assembly instructions on a paper or transparent film of user-selected size, to be printed, assembled into a sliceform, and explored. We conducted two user studies to assess our approach, demonstrating that it is an initial positive step towards the successful creation of interactive and engaging anatomical physicalizations.

Additional Files and Images

Weblinks

• Entry in reposiTUm (TU Wien Publication Database)

BibTeX

@article{raidou_slicedice,
  title =      "Slice and Dice: A PhysicalizationWorkflow for Anatomical
               Edutainment",
  author =     "Renata Raidou and Eduard Gr\"{o}ller and Hsiang-Yun Wu",
  year =       "2020",
  abstract =   "During the last decades, anatomy has become an interesting
               topic in education—even for laymen or schoolchildren. As
               medical imaging techniques become increasingly
               sophisticated, virtual anatomical education applications
               have emerged. Still, anatomical models are often preferred,
               as they facilitate 3D localization of anatomical structures.
               Recently, data physicalizations (i.e., physical
               visualizations) have proven to be effective and
               engaging—sometimes, even more than their virtual
               counterparts. So far, medical data physicalizations involve
               mainly 3D printing, which is still expensive and cumbersome.
               We investigate alternative forms of physicalizations, which
               use readily available technologies (home printers) and
               inexpensive materials (paper or semi-transparent films) to
               generate crafts for anatomical edutainment. To the best of
               our knowledge, this is the first computer-generated crafting
               approach within an anatomical edutainment context. Our
               approach follows a cost-effective, simple, and
               easy-to-employ workflow, resulting in assemblable data
               sculptures (i.e., semi-transparent sliceforms). It primarily
               supports volumetric data (such as CT or MRI), but mesh data
               can also be imported. An octree slices the imported volume
               and an optimization step simplifies the slice configuration,
               proposing the optimal order for easy assembly. A packing
               algorithm places the resulting slices with their labels,
               annotations, and assembly instructions on a paper or
               transparent film of user-selected size, to be printed,
               assembled into a sliceform, and explored. We conducted two
               user studies to assess our approach, demonstrating that it
               is an initial positive step towards the successful creation
               of interactive and engaging anatomical physicalizations.",
  month =      oct,
  journal =    "Computer Graphics Forum (CGF)",
  volume =     "x",
  pages =      "1--12",
  keywords =   "Data Physicalization, Life and Medical Sciences, Anatomical
               Education",
  URL =        "https://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/research/publications/2020/raidou_slicedice/",
}