Virtual reality in biological microscopic imaging

Confocal microscopes have recently allowed biologists and biomedical researchers to obtain time dependent 3D data sets of biological objects, such as cells and tissues. Scientific visualization can provide visual presentations of structural characteristics of these data sets. This paper addresses the role of virtual reality in gaining insight in these presentations. The understanding of structural characteristics of time dependent 3D confocal biological data requires spatial judgments. Perceiving these characteristics is enhanced by using virtual reality technology. The advantage of virtual reality is particularly apparent in the exploration phase of the analysis when the behavior of the underlying biological processes is not a priori known.