Virtual reality project wins prestigious honor

The “Virtual Eye/Virtual House” project of the College of Applied Health Sciences' VRMedLab has won the 2007 Dr. Frank H. Netter Award for Special Contributions to Medical Education.

The Virtual Eye, a 3-D model of an anatomically realistic human eye, is intended to help patients, eye care professionals, even legislators understand how disease can affect eye functionality and lead to visual impairment. Taking it a step further, the Virtual House is a setting wherein users can "virtually" walk through an average home, first with healthy vision, then with vision affected by eye diseases such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

Awarded by the Vesalius Trust for Visual Communication in the Health Sciences, the Netter Award recognizes “visually oriented educational materials with either proven or potential impact on the way health sciences are taught and/or practiced,” according to the Vesalius Trust Web site. AHS associate professor Mary Rasmussen leads the project, supported by a team of colleagues.

The Virtual Eye/Virtual House is one of the more collaborative projects at UIC, drawing additional contributions from the colleges of Pharmacy, Engineering and Medicine, as well as from corporate partners.