Anatomical Software Reviews

Original Review at: http://www.mcronline.com/Bodyworks%206.0.htm
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BodyWorks 6.0 is a high quality, in-depth software program that explores the human anatomy in a 3D perspective. User interface is exceptional with the familiarity of an Internet browser style navigational features. User interaction is combined with video, animation, audio and 3D rotating models to serve anyone seeking information on the human body and its functions.

The recently released program of BodyWorks Version 6.0 is an example of forward thinking. Developed and marketed by The Learning Company under the brand name of "Medical Library" this program exemplifies user friendliness and educational value. While doing the review on this program we fully expected to find the two attributes we just mentioned. We have discovered that The Learning Company continually offers a wide variety of educational programs that meet or exceed user expectations. BodyWorks 6.0 fully lives up to these expectations and raises it to new heights. This is what we discovered in BodyWorks 6.0.

Imagine yourself on an interactive 3D journey through the human anatomy. While taking this journey fully expect to backtrack, go forward, or hyper-jump on linked information using a browser interface that has all the similarities and useful features of Microsoft's Internet Explorer or Netscape Internet browsers. Bookmark multiple locations you find interesting or noteworthy. You can bring up any previous bookmark and immediately jump to the text and anatomical view presented when the bookmark was made. The menu bar features a "home-page" icon button and also allows custom configuration to display the group(s) of icons you find most useful. You can adjust the amount of space the menu bar consumes by sliding the edges in the direction of your choice. You will feel like you are using Microsoft's Internet Explorer 3.02 browser. You are treated to a zero learning curve for locating needed information and navigating through this program.

Installation is simple and straightforward. The program can be run from the CD-ROM or a portion can be installed on your hard drive if you desire greater program speed. If you decide to install it on your hard drive you can expect it to only occupy 2-3 Mb of disk space. Make sure you install the QuickTime Version 2.1.2 option to allow for smooth video and sound. The opening screen displays greet you with the majority of the screen divided into three separate windows that can be displayed or closed depending on what you desire. The topic window is in the upper left corner. This window is text display with the subject of choice presented in the main graphics window positioned to the right. The graphics window occupies approximately 75% of screen real estate. A third window normally displayed in the lower left is the text window which contains the body of information related to the topic you choose with highlighted/hyperlinked words to branch off to related information. The menu bar provides icons for word search, showing the index, showing the glossary, educational presentations, and print functions. A second group of icons let you instantly select any of the following bodily systems to quickly focus on your interests. Separate icons are displayed for the skeletal, muscular, nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, endocrine, lymphatic and genitourinary systems. There are also icon representations for sensory organs and other health topics.

From the "home-page" view you can instantly branch off into four main areas which are again subdivided as necessary. These four areas are the Index, 3D Models, Educational Activities and Body Systems. The Body Systems are the same as described in the previous paragraph. 3D models are views and cutaway views of various organs and parts of the body. Education places you in a student type setting with an instructor explaining the topic you chose. Indexing is a rapid method to quickly locate a subject or topic of choice in the list of all the subjects in the program. Although the index was handy, we thought the word search feature was absolutely the best because all you needed to do was type a word and a database of 1,500 topics and 400,000 words of text are instantly searched with a list of every article containing that word popping up immediately. Just select the article of choice and find the information you need. Phonetic searches are also possible. The glossary contains 2,100 anatomic and medical terms.

The most outstanding feature of this program is the 3D rotating models. BodyWorks 6.0 offers 160 illustrations that include at least 80 rotating 3D models. To view these models you simply place the mouse cursor (which takes the shape of a hand) on the model and drag it in the direction you want to rotate the view to. Large models allow you to click on a specific area and bring up smaller models in the graphics window. The rotation is usually allowed in a spherical manner which means you can rotate the model in 360 degrees in every direction. This feature is extremely beneficial in understanding how organs, etc. are positioned in the human body and their overall shape.

Educational activities area consists of a virtual video classroom with a personal instructor. Fifteen different anatomy presentations are offered. The multimedia lessons assist the user with quizzes that test your knowledge on any body system. Correct pronunciation is provided on more than 1,400 anatomic terms. BodyWorks 6.0 allows the user to explore the details in the functioning of the entire human body from major organs and systems down to a single cell. You can follow the blood flow through the body with a detailed explanation of the oxygenation of blood as it passes through the lungs. Continuation will allow you to follow the path back through the atriums and ventricles in the heart. For parents that are concerned that their children are too young to receive certain anatomical information relating to the reproductive system, BodyWorks allows censorship of material that may not be suitable for young children. A password is applied to this information and it is only available if the parent chooses to make the password known to the family members they feel it is acceptable to. This option can be changed as needed.

Without a doubt, BodyWorks 6.0 provides something for everyone who seeks additional resources relating to the human anatomy. The simple user interface allows anyone to navigate around in the program by basic mouse point and click methods. Best of all, the program provides a rich environment of educational and research value. Applicable information is combined with high resolution graphics to make learning easy. Interestingly enough, The Learning Company has demonstrated their expertise in teaching by providing information in a manner that will reach both the visual and auditory type student.

Highs: We found everything featured with this program was exceptional! User interface and the 3D rotational models are the biggest highlights. 
Lows: None! This program should completely satisfy anyone. 
Final Word: BodyWorks 6.0 is an easy to use and very detailed software program that will explain the human anatomy in familiar terms. It does this by using extensive audio and visual enhancement along with text to demonstrate how the different body functions depend on each other and interact with each other. 

BodyWorks is advertised as a 3D journey through the human anatomy, which it most certainly does provide, albeit a somewhat limited journey. It is a very user-friendly and interactive program that lets you explore the human anatomy with pictures, text, on-screen "videos," and rotating 3D models. The 3D models can even be magnified and reduced. You can search by topics, words, video lectures, the 3D models, narrated lessons and quizzes. The program says that it will take you through every part of the body-from the largest body system to the smallest cell. However, it only gives you a very quick overview of each body system. This program is not for someone who would seriously like to study the human anatomy system.

If you or your children would like to learn quickly and easily the basics of human anatomy, I highly recommend this program. As I mentioned, it is very easy to learn to use. It does not come with a manual, but there is a sheet included which gives you enough instruction to be able to use the program just fine. The program is very easy to navigate around in, find particular body parts or systems or just find definitions of anatomic terms.

The on-screen teaching videos, taught by "Dr. BodyWorks," give you a quick overview of certain parts of the body. They are: Hearing, Sense of Smell, Sense of Taste, Sense of Touch, The Brain, The Circulatory System, The Digestive System, The Endocrine System, The Heart, The Muscular System, The Nervous System, The Reproductive System, The Respiratory System, The Skeletal System, and Vision.

The narrated lessons go into more detail of particular parts of the body. They are: Circulatory System, Digestive System, Endocrine System, Hand, Integumentary & Sensory System, Muscular System, Nervous System, Reproductive System, Respiratory System, and Skeletal System. Then you can take a quiz to test your knowledge of what you just learned. Questions are displayed one at a time, with four possible choices listed, and you click on an answer to see if it is correct. The program immediately tells you whether or not you answered correctly. When you finish the quiz, the program computes your score based on the percentage of correct answers.

The program also has a section called "Health Topics." I found this part of the program to be a little difficult to use. There are certain items you can choose to look at, such as "Aging," "Calories and Exercise," "The Health Care Team," etc. They were somewhat limited in their scope, and often directed you back into the BodyWorks program to look at part of the human anatomy. It was not an interactive part of the program where you could ask specific questions about certain health topics and get specific answers.

One of the options that I instantly liked about this program is that where you can censor certain material which may be unsuitable for children. This is an excellent feature, as I would assume that this program would most likely be used by children and teenagers studying the human body in school. It is not a program that I would recommend for someone who is studying anatomy at the college level. While it is quite thorough, it does not cover enough detailed information of the human anatomy to warrant use at that level. However, it certainly covers more than enough to be very helpful to the casual student of human anatomy.

This article is from the July 1999 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor.