Watch Microsoft HoloLens 'unwrap' the human body: Video reveals how the augmented reality headset lets doctors get under a patient's skin

  • Video was released by Microsoft with Case Western Reserve University 
  • Medical students are using headsets to learn more about human anatomy
  • In one example, the wearer is shown making a virtual click before a skeleton is separated from its vascular system and muscles
  • Microsoft has not revealed how much HoloLens will cost or a release date 

By Victoria Woollaston for MailOnline

Published: 08:41 EST, 10 July 2015 | Updated: 10:15 EST, 10 July 2015

Microsoft still hasn't confirmed when it will launch its HoloLens headset but its latest video has revealed more about how it works.

Medical students are using the augmented reality headset to learn more about human anatomy, from looking at specific types of fractures to examining the intricacies of the heart.

It is just one of the many ways in which the tech firm believes the device will revolutionise teaching, as well as gaming and entertainment in the home. 

Scroll down for video 

Medical students at Case Western Reserve University are using Microsoft's HoloLens augmented reality headset to learn more about human anatomy, from looking at specific types of fractures to examining the intricacies of the heart and seeing the muscular and vascular systems in 3D (animated) 

The video was released by Microsoft in partnership with Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). 

'We've been teaching human anatomy in the same way for a hundred years,' said Barbara Snyder, CWRU president. 

'Students get a cadaver and they look at medical illustrations and it's completely two-dimensional, and the human body isn't.'

HOLOLENS AND ASTRONAUTS 

Microsoft has partnered with Nasa to use its HoloLens headset to develop augmented reality for astronauts. 

The project, called SideKick, allows astronauts to see virtual aids holographically projected into their field of view.

It would allow them to see a video explaining how an experiment should be carried out as they do it, for instance.

This new capability could reduce crew training requirements and increase the efficiency at which astronauts can work in space.

Teachers are combining traditional methods with the HoloLens to help students to see the various layers of the body. 

In one example, the wearer is shown making a virtual click before a skeleton is separated from its vascular system and muscles. 

As his eyes move around a diagram the various sections of the body parts are highlighted and annotated. 

In another example, bones are shown floating in the wearer's field of view to show three different kinds of break from spiral to compound and clean. 

In the video, medical student Satyam Ghodasara explained: 'I actually had a moment where I found the aortic valve and it was the first time I had seen the aortic valve in relation to all the other anatomical structures. 

In another example, bones are shown floating in the wearer's view to show three different kinds of break from spiral (left) to compound (left of centre) and clean (right of centre). An unbroken bone is shown right

HoloLens (pictured) was unveiled in January and it uses a visor to project 'holographic' images onto the wearer's field of view. It uses sensors to track the wearer's head to ensure the hologram is in the same way

HoloLens (pictured) was unveiled in January and it uses a visor to project 'holographic' images onto the wearer's field of view. It uses sensors to track the wearer's head to ensure the hologram is in the same way

'It was a way of seeing it that you couldn't do with an actual heart.' 

HoloLens was unveiled in January and it uses a visor to project 'holographic' images onto the wearer's field of view.

Student Satyam Ghodasara is shown examining the inner workings of a human heart using HoloLens

Student Satyam Ghodasara is shown examining the inner workings of a human heart using HoloLens

It uses sensors to track the wearer's head to ensure the hologram is in the same way.

A projection system them beams the holographic images into the wearer's eye. 

However, Microsoft has not revealed exactly how it does this.

The headset also features a camera to track the user's hands, allowing them to interact with the holographic images.

Last month, Microsoft revealed how Minecraft could be played using HoloLens during a demo in which the wearer conjured up a holographic city built from tiny virtual bricks on a coffee table.

The game can be played on any surface and the headset allows people to play collaboratively in an entirely new way.

To show the HoloLens technology to the audience, special cameras were used to display the live view from the headset. Otherwise, viewers could only see a man waving wearing HoloLens. 

Microsoft envisages that people will wear HoloLens headsets in their homes to build elaborate buildings in Minecraft, for example (pictured). But there is no news on how much the headset will cost or when it will launch 

Microsoft envisages that people will wear HoloLens headsets in their homes to build elaborate buildings in Minecraft, for example (pictured). But there is no news on how much the headset will cost or when it will launch 

Microsoft recently also shared footage of forthcoming Xbox One games including Halo 5: Guardians, Gears of War 4 and Tomb Raider. This is what Halo 5 may look like on a HoloLens headset

Microsoft recently also shared footage of forthcoming Xbox One games including Halo 5: Guardians, Gears of War 4 and Tomb Raider. This is what Halo 5 may look like on a HoloLens headset

MINECRAFT FEATURES USING THE HOLOLENS HEADSET

Wearers of the HoloLens headset can play Minecraft on any surface, getting an avatar’s view on a wall, or seeing a world rise up from their coffee table, for example.

They can manipulate a virtual Minecraft world using their voice and hands.

They can walk around worlds and change their viewpoint easily.

Using voice commands, they can zoom in and out to peer through buildings, for example.

They can raise a world upwards to reveal hidden underground chambers. 

By gazing at an object, players can target attacks such as a lightning strike.  

In the demo, Saxs Perssons of Microsoft Studios wore the HoloLens to play Minecraft, with his view projected onto a wall for the audience to see. 

Mr Perssons said the command ‘create world’ to show his Minecraft location on a coffee table.

The holographic bricks assembled in front of the audience’s eyes so that a city rose from the table’s surface, with moving characters on top. 

Microsoft has also partnered with Nasa to use its HoloLens headset to develop augmented reality for astronauts. 

The project, called SideKick, allows astronauts to see virtual aids holographically projected into their field of view.

This allows them to see a video explaining how an experiment should be carried out as they do it, for instance.

This new capability could reduce crew training requirements and increase the efficiency at which astronauts can work in space.

 

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