Remember the show The Magic School Bus that featured episodes where we got to dive into the blood stream to learn about biology? Well, now we can experience what it feels like to get inside the body ourselves using a virtual reality headset, an app and this awesome T-shirt.
Virtuali-Tee is a "smart T-shirt" that features a printed code that allows you to see inside the human body. The user would start by downloading the accompanying iOS and Android app, and then point their smartphone or tablet at the person wearing the Virtuali-Tee.
The app then scans the shirt much like a QR code, only instead of bringing the user to a website, the T-shirt comes to life with an animated 3D model of the top half of the body that appears X-ray vision style.
Created by Curiscope, the virtual and augmented reality education company, the T-shirt unlocks a virtual experience that allows people to see various aspects of the body, such as what the beating heart and breathing lungs looks like, how exercise affects the body, and what it looks like to digest food.
"Our objective as a company is to bring learning to life, whether that's through a VR experience or, in the case of the Virtuali-Tee, by quite literally bringing the body to life, in a way that would otherwise be impossible," Curiscope CEO Ed Barton told Tech Times. "We've seen other AR products falling short and never moving beyond the gimmick factor. With the Virtuali-Tee, we saw the perfect opportunity to take learning out of the textbook and to make the anatomy feel as real as possible."
Besides being able to see the body's organs on the screen, users can also dig deeper with the app and learn more about some aspects of body, like the circulatory or urinary system, through a visual experience by moving closer to the T-shirt.
While the app provides the animated experience, users can become even more immersed using a virtual reality headset. This allows you to get further inside to get an even more up close and personal biology lesson.
Virtuali-Tee is ideal for teachers looking to get their students excited about learning anatomy, parents wanting to bring some play into learning with their kids, or for science enthusiasts who love technology and cool T-shirts. The app even features a selfie mode so the person wearing the T-shirt can see inside their own body, as it is able to work via a mirror.
To be able to get Virtuali-Tee to the public, Curiscope recently launched a Kickstarter campaign. It has already raised more than $87,000 of its $96,957 goal, with three days to go.
With the early bird specials sold out, Virtuali-Tee is available starting at $55 in the choice of red, green or blue, and from sizes from 5 years and up to adult size XL. The T-shirt will also come with a Curiscope Google Cardboard for this price. Virtuali-Tee is expected to ship this August.
Curiscope also has plans to explore VR and AR products in addition to T-shirts that include other physical objects, as well as 3D room tracking to create an immersive experience. Barton also revealed the company is working on a VR experience that would let users teleport to impossible places.
Source: Kickstarter
