Do You Want To See How Far Medical Research Has Come Since 1858 in Full 3D?

This application has absolutely nothing to do with the TV show— thank goodness – ‘Gray’s Anatomy’ is the renowned classic anatomical book penned by Henry Gray way back in 1858. His work is considered to be one of the most iconic and significant medical books of all time and is now available to view on the high resolution screen of the iPad. Not to mention, thanks to the 3.1 version update, this medical literary classic is now available with the massive benefit of fully interactive 3D!

Whilst the initial curiosity value of the original text will hold your interest for a while, this interactive version is simply stunning, what little there are, alas with the 3D version images totalling only seven from a possible 1247. When you consider the massive image library you have access to, such a small selection of admittedly amazing interactive pages, at this point in the development of this application we fail to see who the current audience could be? The ability to get hands on with the 3D images allows for both those seeking to enhance their knowledge or those simply looking for a macabre diversion to delve deeper into the once flat image, moving key elements of the image in a full 360 degree field of motion. Much care has been placed on maintaining the pencil drawn style even when moving in 3D, the effect is a mix of contemporary and classical and one that is completely original for the iPad.

The remaining 2D content is quaint and very well presented and well contained in an easy to navigate and understand shell. Which makes it that much more of a shame that the content is dated and has been literally translated from the page rendering it beyond any reference use, the sold separately student’s edition takes care of that demographic. The ability to zoom into the images does lift them into a more interactive setting, the information is also linked to Wolfram Alpha, Wikipedia, Ask.com and other Medical Search Engines which can be instantly linked directly from the app. Users can also take notes and share sections with others, the presentation shell enables quick access to each section, alternatively users can create their own bookmarks which once more speeds up use.

Though these additions impress but they do very little to enhance the project beyond casual use, so unless you have any interest in 150 year old medical guides there is little here to revisit beyond the high quality of the classic sketched and at times interactive artwork. With further updates promising more interactive 3D sections, we can certainly see huge potential which totals enough to warrant our endorsement.