Nevrolens

About the app
The Nevrolens app provides an augmented-reality experience for learning about the neuroanatomy of the rat brain. The brain system consists of a high-resolution 3D model of a rat brain model - the Waxholm Space atlas of the Sprague Dawley rat brain. The parts of the brain model are color-coded.

The app can be used by medical students to learn neuroanatomy, as part of a formal education or informally.
The Nevrolens app offers a feature for viewing the 3D model of the rat brain from multiple
angles. The model can be placed in the physical space of the user and move the model around in augmented reality to view it from different perspectives.


This is how you use the app
The app allows to explore the rat brain model and to test the acquired knowledge.
The app provides multiple features for the brain system. The main features include:
Brain dissection feature can be used to view custom or fixed planes (horizontal, coronal and sagittal) in the 3D model of the rat brain.
Manipulation of the 3D model (move, rotate and scale)
Model interaction, pointing at different brain parts, moving them to reveal the underlying structures
Textual descriptions of the different brain parts
Self-study, single user mode
Collaborative multi-user mode in which multiple learners, tutors or teachers synchronously interact with the 3D model. The collaborative mode allows multiple users to connect to each other through a system of rooms protected by secret codes. In the collaborative model, the users can use voice chat and other synchronous collaboration features.
User guidance, including contextual help and tutorials
Catalog feature can be used to access a list of different brain parts or clusters of brain parts.
Flashcard feature can be used to take an image of the field of view, excluding the hand menu, add notes, and save the image.
Save and load progress allows the users to save their current work locally on the device they are using or load their work from a session previously saved on this device.
Quiz feature presents a question from a pool of 40 questions to the users that require selecting a brain part in the 3D model.
Challenge each other feature that works in the collaborative mode allows learners to pose questions to each other.


Conditions and Privacy
This app provides a simulation of a rat brain.

Be aware that the app requests access to the camera of the user’s device to enable the augmented reality experience. The app contains a feature to take an image and save it locally on the device the user is using. The images are not transmitted over the Internet to any cloud storage.
The app requests access to the microphone of the user’s device only to use it for the voice chat feature, while using the app in the collaborative mode. The app does not record and does not store the voice recording.
The app also requests access to the storage of the device only to save the images taken in the app and saving and loading the progress in the app. The app does not access any other files or data stored on the user’s device.
The app does not access the users personal data stored on the phone. The app does not access the users location data. The app does not collect data about the user’s device.
The Waxholm Space atlas of the Sprague Dawley rat brain is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike (CC BY‐SA) 4.0 license.

Development
The app is developed by IMTEL and Kavli Institute of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in collaboration with Erasmus+ iPEAR project, Inclusive Peer Learning with Augmented Reality Apps, grant number 2020-1-DE01-KA203-005733

Concept, content, supervision, and leadership: Ekaterina Prasolova-Førland (IMTEL, NTNU) and Menno P. Witter (Kavli, NTNU)
Technical coordination: Mikhail Fominykh (IMTEL, NTNU)
Developers: Ole Viktor Ravna, Mathilde Haukø Haugum, Miriam Vaarum Woldseth, Timmy Chan, and Abbas Jafari (all IMTEL, NTNU)