Design and Development of Collaborative AR System for Anatomy Training

Background: Augmented Reality (AR) incorporates both real and virtual objects in real-time environments and allows single and multi-users to interact with 3D models. It is often tricky to adopt multi-users in the same environment because of the devices' latency and model position accuracy in displaying the models simultaneously. Method: To address this concern, we present a multi-user sharing technique in the AR of the human anatomy that increases learning with high quality, high stability, and low latency in multiple devices. Besides, the multi-user interactive display (HoloLens) merges with the human body anatomy application (AnatomyNow) to teach and train students, academic staff, and hospital faculty in the human body anatomy. We also introduce a pin system to share the same knowledge between multiple users. A total of 5 groups have been considered for the study and the evaluation has been performed using two parameters: latency between the devices and position accuracy of the 3D objects in the same environment. Results: The proposed multi-user interaction technique is observed to be good in terms of 3D object position accuracy and latency between the devices. Conclusion: AR technology provides a multi-user interactive environment for teaching and training in the human body anatomy.