October 5, 2011

Where has Google body browser gone?

A little shocking news has arrived from the Google complex about the future of an all-time favorite, the Google body browser. Now that many physicians have just discovered this amazing application it is frustrating to find out that this project is being discontinued. Or is it really?

UPDATE jan 2012:

All is good and well, Body browser is back online but now as "Zygote body"!
http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2012/01/google-body-browser-is-now-zygote-body.html

It seems by digging into this news that it isn't at all, rather it is part of Google's decision to stop the Google Labs project and move on all projects within to a finite application but in the hands of other developers. Which should mean that projects that have been in a standstill for years are now pushed to faster development, a win-win situation for everyone.

The same goes for Body browser which will now go to a private company, Zygote media group, which has promised to offer it for free in the future. Their connection to GBB is their ownership of the underlying 3d body model. The viewer itself will also be taken over by the open source community.

Reading all this I've also learned about another similiar 3d project, the BioDigital Human. It seems theirs is even more advanced, for example allowing real-time dissection for. Competition is always good for end users and so with news seemingly sad news we actually should cheer out loud.

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