Anatomical Mirror

Explore the Human Anatomy

Context

The Anatomical Mirror is an application and installation by Simon Kirsch and me. It creates a unique and intuitive way to experience the human anatomy by using a Kinect v2. The movements of the person in focus are transmitted in real-time to a virtual anatomical 3d model. The usage is quite simple: As soon the User steps on the marked point on the ground, he will tracked by the Kinect. With this first step, a mirrored anatomical 3D model appears on the screen. Now he can choose between a male or female model. By moving towards the projection the user „slices“ through different layers of the human body. As further he steps forward, as more layers will be exposed. Starting with the muscular layer, it goes deeper to the organs, skeleton until it reaches the circulatory system. Thereby the user gets basic informations of shape, volume, position and names.

The Anatomical Mirror is currently a fully functional application.

Anatomical Accuracy

In addition to numerous sources of human anatomy we had support from Prof. Dr. Schultka from the Institute of Anatomy of the Martin Luther University in Halle. This served among others the Meckel’s collections as a source, which are among the most extensive anatomical collections in Germany and Europe.

Style

We choosed a stylized, illustrative style because of our main target group the layman. By avoiding an overly naturalistic style we also avoided too high expectations of the user.

3D models of the male version
3D models of the female version
Anatomical Mirror during an exhibition in 2015
Anatomical Mirror during an exhibition in 2015
Anatomical Mirror during an exhibition in 2015
Anatomical Mirror during an exhibition in 2014