Google Body

[Yan]

Google Body

[Taoist]

I wasn't sure if this was a spam post or not, but I took a few minutes to check it out and it seems really neat. You can view different body systems layer-by-layer and zoom in & out. Looks like a great tool for anatomy students. When I have more time I will post some more information about it.

There are only a few browsers you can use with this application. I tried Firefox 4 but couldn't get it to work, but Google Chrome works just fine with it.

[Yan]

I wasn't sure if this was a spam post or not, but I took a few minutes to check it out and it seems really neat. You can view different body systems layer-by-layer and zoom in & out. Looks like a great tool for anatomy students. When I have more time I will post some more information about it.

There are only a few browsers you can use with this application. I tried Firefox 4 but couldn't get it to work, but Google Chrome works just fine with it.

I tried opening it with IE - turns out it's not supported. They do claim however Firefox 4 Beta IS supported, not sure if that's the same as the one you tried. As for Google Chrome - it works rather slow for me, I wish it was loading up faster, but it is indeed a great application.

[Taoist]

I did download Firefox 4 beta just to try it (since I use Firefox anyway). There's probably just some settings I need to mess with first.

[Rozax]

It works best in Chrome, but I need a better graphics card to use the site.

[Rozax]

My classmates and I just used this, and I must say that nothing beats a 3D interactive representation of the muscular system. I love being able to peal away layers, add transparency, and see how the muscles lay in relation to internal organs, veins, and the skeletal structure.

If anyone is studying gait right now, give this evil little game a try. All you have to do is make the character run using the QWOP keys. It really makes me appreciate how easily I can move my own two legs.

[JasonE]

The concept is similar to that of many other products already available via other formats, but is executed in a manner intended to "sell" users on the Google Chrome browser. Ridiculous. I am not downloading an oversized, clunky browser program just so I can look at anatomical pictures.

[Taoist]

The concept is similar to that of many other products already available via other formats, but is executed in a manner intended to "sell" users on the Google Chrome browser. Ridiculous. I am not downloading an oversized, clunky browser program just so I can look at anatomical pictures.

After doing some more in-depth troubleshooting, I think you might be right.

I can't seem to get the graphics program it uses to initialize in Firefox and the only other solution I could find was that my graphics card driver is out-of-date. After many attempts to update mine (I have the most current version), I found out that supposedly the program has a thing against Intel graphics cards (which is what I have). Hmm... Something's not right here for it to be able to work in Chrome but not Firefox; obviously my computer's hardware isn't the problem.

All in all I'm not sure it's worth the trouble for those who are not the most computer-literate, but all other similar products I know of cost $$ (or come with textbooks that cost $$.) Although a hassle, Google Body is free.

[JasonE]

It isn't free if you have to spend time, effort, and possibly money to update your computer hardware and/or software to view it. If you give in and switch to Google Chrome, accept the fact that they'll be data-mining how you use the internet each time you use that browser, and don't be surprised by "updates" that include automatic installations of peripheral software and features.

To me, not worth it - but I have excellent anatomy references and software at hand. I can't tell how this compares for quality... but it sure doesn't seem user-friendly.

[Rozax]

Actually, it's just WebGL. To put it simply, WebGL renders 3D images and it works differently for each browser. The first stable release only just appeared in March of this year, so they're not intentionally trying to rip anyone off.

To put it all together, Body Browser uses WebGL, Google created the Body Browser, so naturally, it's going to work better in Chrome. They're working on better implementations for other browsers. To quote wiki directly:

"WebGL is implemented in Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and in development releases of Safari and Opera. In addition, WebGL is available in the PR1.2 firmware update for the Nokia N900." Citation is provided on the wiki page.

No mention of Internet Explorer, so we'll see what the implications of that are. Personally, I don't mind IE falling by the wayside.

[Rozax]

Google Body is now Zygote Body.

Let's see how this one works out for everybody.