Sensavis [1]

Sensavis creates 3D products with incredible realism and stop-
action manipulation. And their content runs on iPads.

Our first featured nextgen company is a remarkably skilled group out of Sweden, Sensavis. They offer products in the field of corporate and medical education, marketing, and visualization. I've explored their products and works-in-progress first hand and found myself nothing less than stunned. I have seen it all with regards to 3D educational products on the market, and this is the best imagery I have seen. More importantly, it works the way teachers and professors really want 3D learning to work, based on the end-of-project teacher interviews conducted following our year-and-a half case study in the Boulder Valley School District. In a past blog post about educational content, “What is eS3D,” I describe five of the key attributes of outstanding 3D educational content, and the Sensavis masters all five. 

Sensavis has produced an Interactive 3D Human Framework (I3HF), which approaches discovering the human body from a physiological perspective – meaning that you see fluids flowing and particle systems moving, not just 3D learning objects. Their presentations are so completely interactive, you can zoom endlessly from macro to micro, steer around, or choose from a navigation client to add slides or film into the model. If only they would create content for the high school market!

Sensavis' app, Heart Interactive, demonstrates
their use of simulation in rendered 3D.  Their
content is also produced in stereo 3D. 

One of the many efforts now underway at Sensavis is a high end "interactive 3D heart project.” This involves software that integrates Sensavis’ technology with real time data from a heart simulation developed jointly by the internationally respected Karolinska University Hospital and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. Using their product, Sensavis intends to "steer" the heart “in real time” in order to conduct various simulations, conditions, and treatment effects. (If you would like to glimpse at the quality of their visualizations, download the free Heart Interactive app from the App Store—search for 'Sensavis' or 'Heart Interactive' and you will find it easily.)

Sensavis’ remarkable vision, driven by CEO Magnus Arfors and a world-class development team, is grounded in several fundamental beliefs. First, Arfors suggests that “Humans were equipped to learn through experience. The closer we can get to an experience of a message, the closer we get to an understanding of that message (and in shorter time).” Interactivity is key to his notion of experience. Arfors explains: “Film is linear, yet interactive content is non-linear. You choose where you want to go.”   Arfors offers a simple formula for 3D success: “3D + interaction = understanding and recollection.” He reminds us: “Regardless whether the interactive 3D content is for general education, learning science, or used in marketing—it enhances understanding and stimulates the learning process in a way that the audience is engaged and remembers the experience and the messages.” Arfors’ theories translate well into practice. Two weeks ago, a professor used the Sensavis’ 3D In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) visualization in her lecture for 100 medical students at the Karolinska University Hospital. Arfors gleams: “This was their première for interactive 3D content and already the enthusiasm is spreading internally at the university.

Second, the strength of Sensavis’ approach and expertise asserts itself at the precise point where “IT, visualization, and academic competence meet.” He clarifies: “We strive for realism, both in movements and in visual quality (we put very high demands on our software). Most importantly, Arfors notes: “A key characteristic of our content is that we want to picture ‘alive’ environments, i.e., the human body in operation (physiology).”  

Third, Sensavis’ accomplishments are grounded in solid technological advantage. They have developed their own visualization engine. They have reliable hardware delivery platforms, including an auto-stereoscopic streaming solution that can be used for companies desiring to distribute education content to local sites, universities, or hospitals from a central server. And they are agile enough to take on special projects in the fields of science or education. (For example, Sensavis just completed a production focused on In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), visualizing the achievements behind the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2010).

I have often stated that my personal vision is to make the world of teaching and learning a better place, to enable the kind of teaching that fully engages and challenges our 21^st century learners. I believe Sensavis’ creativity clearly moves us in that direction. Sensavis can be reached at www.sensavis.com.