Start Over Date 2019 Unit LAUNCH

1. Creation of Interactive VR Application that Supports Reasoning Skills in Anatomy Education (03:47)

Date:
2019-05
Main contributors:
Ackley, Amber, Chang-Gonzalez, Karla Ianina
Summary:
Demonstrates a VR (Virtual Reality) program created for an undergraduate thesis that allows users to view and interact with muscles and nerves of a canine leg. It utilizes anatomically accurate models of canine muscles and nerves, textured, rigged, and animated for use in an educational virtual reality platform. The end goal of the project is to create and measure the efficacy of a visually dynamic experience for the user, allowing them to generally explore canine limb anatomy, and to specifically visualize deficits in muscle movement produced by user interaction with the canine nervous system. This tool seeks to improve upon existing methods of higher-level anatomy education by allowing students to directly manipulate anatomical models and observe movements in a three-dimensional space. Employing the methodologies of “art-based research," this project was created with the help of anatomy experts from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University.

2. Exploration of the Effectiveness of Dance as a Tool of Communication (29:59)

Date:
2019-05
Main contributors:
Eidson, Riley, Clark, Kelsey, Thompson, Ashlyn
Summary:
This video contains a choreographed modern dance piece that was created for an undergraduate thesis exploring the use of dance to relay information about historical events. The creators of the piece hope to “translate iconic and propagandist artwork from the time period of the Space Race, into a form that we most closely understand and may be more relevant for a wider audience.” By using artwork from this era as their inspiration, they attempt to evoke an emotional response in the audience beyond the memorization of facts while revitalizing this art form and building a bridge between artists and historians.