Way back in 1966, Raquel Welch joined a team of scientists in a shrunken submarine and entered the body of a CIA agent to repair a blood clot and save his life. “Fantastic Voyage, the film about their adventures, went on to win two Academy Awards, and spawned a novel by Isaac Asimov, an animated TV series, and a wide range of defunct plans for a high tech remake. Now Google has stepped up to the plate with the Google Body Browser, a program that lets you explore the innermost workings of the human body from your own computer.

The program offers a 3D image of a somewhat androgynous model—halter top and five o’clock shadow—that lets you explore the skeleton, muscles, and various systems (nervous, circulatory, et al) that make the body tick.

While there are still kinks to work out—it requires WebGL, a 3D graphics API that runs within the browser to work, and that means you need Google Chrome to run it—every body has its kinks. It could also use some specific information about what it is you are seeing there. For that you need a good medical textbook, or perhaps some links to Wikipedia for starters. Being able to identify the metatarsophalangeal articulations is hardly the same as knowing what they do.

Still, the Google Body Browser can be a welcome addition to the Google family of maps, world, street view, et al. And it’s a lot less invasive than an airport body scanner.
Read More at NBC Bay Area.
Read More at Digital Trends.