Computer visualization has offered a solution to this problem by allowing 3D computer models of anatomy to be visualized interactively on a computer screen. Anatomical structures can easily be displayed in any combination and from any point-of-view. One disadvantage of this form of visualization is that the conversion from the 3D world to the 2D computer screen results in a loss of depth information.

      Depth information can be recovered through the use of red/blue stereoscopic visualization and low-cost anaglyph glasses. This visualization technique allows complex anatomic relationships to be conveyed in greater detail and in a shorter time than is possible using conventional computer graphics techniques. If stereoscopic images are displayed on the computer, the synergy of motion parallax and 3D stereoscopy can be exploited to relay an even greater understanding of 3D relationships in the body. This combination has been used to create stereoscopic MPEG movies that can be incorporated into educational materials distributed over the World Wide Web or on CD-ROM.

      Because the VHP data are not taken from a living person, there are virtually no instances in which 3D surfaces contain only red or only green and blue. Color restrictions cited earlier have therefore not introduced significant problems in the stereoscopic display of these data.

      Red/blue stereoscopic visualization is an inexpensive means of providing a level of anatomic understanding that is currently only possible through the use of anatomic dissections. Anatomic instruction that includes the use of ordinary 35mm slides, atlases and syllabi cannot convey the 3D relationships as effectively as they can be understood through the use of stereo imaging. These same media could be supplemented or replaced with equivalent material presented in stereo. We believe stereoscopic visualization will ultimately become a standard in the teaching of anatomy in the future.