Iltifat Husain MD contributed to this piece
mARble is an app developed by the Hannover School of Medicine to help medical students gain hands-on experience through augmented reality. The app projects virtual illnesses on healthy subjects to supplement the experience they gain while treating sick patients. mARble gives students the flexibility of being able to learn when and where they want.
The app was demonstrated at this year’s CeBIT conference. The mARble simulation app projects texts, graphics and video information which it derives from data supplied from several sensors including a gyroscope, accelerometer and GPS. Students can also create their own tests to track their progress using customizable multimedia learning cards.
A survey was taken by Research Gate asking six third year medical students using mARble and four using textbook material to take a test after a thirty minute learning period. The results of the survey showed that the students using mARble scored significantly higher scores. Obviously, the sample size for this survey is nowhere close to the number required to actually validate the product, but it does show promise. In case you’re wondering, the app isn’t available on iTunes just yet. A link to the study on PubMed can be found here.
Source: psfk
