UNITE Conference

So, I've been fairly remiss in not talking about this wonderful program known as Unity3D. A 'step up' from Papervision3D in that in actually handles 3D meshes rather than a Flash mock-up of 3D, Unity3D is a comparatively inexpensive game engine used by both indie designers and larger companies. The editor runs on both the Mac (OSX) and Windows platforms, thankfully. It also outputs games for multiple platforms - a Windows exe, a Mac program or widget, Wii game, iPhone application (actually a separate Unity3D engine designed specifically for iPhone development), and web-based browser games that run off of a plugin (supported by both Mac and Windows).

I've personally done a small amount of work in Unity3D (and hopefully will get more done... but work has me extremely busy so we'll see). If you know JavaScript, beginning to program within Unity seems to be fairly simple. It also accepts Boo, and C#. The JavaScript is slightly different than the JavaScript used on the web - I liken it to the difference between American English and British English. There are also tutorials by Ethical Games for the change over between Flash and Unity3D. In any case... it's a great program to work, at least in my personal experience.



There is also a conference coming up, in San Fransisco, called the UNITE 09 Conference. Being in San Fran this year, and since I recently moved out to the West Coast, I am super excited about it. I plan on catching at least a couple of days, if not the whole conference. As I said... busy with work, unfortunately. The Agenda looks great - everything from an intro to Unity3D, to Unity for Flash Developers, to a Post Mortem look at some games, shader analysis... I'm very excited, to say the least. More once the conference actually starts!

Gaming and Training

While visualizing CT and MRI scans as 3D colorized volumetric images is not a new thing (see OsiriX, Fovia, VolumeGraphics, Amira, Mimics, 3D Slicer and many others that I personally don't know about), it is becoming quite popular for training and surgical planning. However, BodyViz actually uses an X-Box controller to bring the 3D patient scan to the surgeon. Personally, I find the use of a video game controller to be highly intriguing. As my generation grows and becomes the doctors and surgeons of the future, I know that I would prefer them to look at my body first before preforming surgery. And coming from a gaming background, using a game controller to move through a data set makes a certain amount of sense. Whether it be on this technology or something similar, I find the possibilities growing, and very exciting.

Video Game Technology Helps Train Surgeons

From BodyViz:

BodyViz has extensive visualization features that enable users to quickly and effectively view and interact with their patient's data in a never-before-seen 3D manner that is changing the way medical professionals view their world. The user interface is operated by an Xbox 360 controller which allows anyone from surgeons to medical/anatomy students to simply “travel” under the skin, past the bones, through the arteries, blood vessels and organs and literally fly through patients’ bodies. The game controller lets physicians create "clipping” planes and insert virtual surgical tools that can be maneuvered around internal structures of the anatomy in all directions. Users can also choose what tissue densities to view and from a variety of colors to enhance the data. BodyViz is affordably priced, lightweight and simple to use on laptops or PCs.