On March 21, teamLab released "teamLabBody," the world's first 3D human anatomy app that faithfully reproduces the skeletal movements and anatomical structure of a living human. The app can be used for medical and educational purposes as a digital textbook on human anatomy, as well as for healthcare purposes such as osteopathic clinics, beauty salons, yoga classes, and training, as well as for a wide range of artistic uses such as drawing, manga, and animation. It is compatible with iPad 2, new iPad, iPad 4, and iPad mini. It supports English and Japanese. This app is based on a method developed by a research team led by Professor Kazuomi Sugamoto of Osaka University's Department of Orthopedic Biomaterials to analyze the three-dimensional movement of living human joints. During orthopedic treatment and surgery, conventional information alone can sometimes be technically limited. The research team therefore developed a completely new method to analyze the three-dimensional shape and movement of bones and joints. Their results revealed that joint movement voluntarily performed by humans differs from that observed in donated cadavers. Based on these results, the research team believed that "skeletal movement in living humans could be useful in medical treatment, surgery, and even education in general." In 1998, they began developing their own software, "teamLabBody -3D Motion Human Anatomy-." After more than 10 years of research, they were able to visualize the muscles, nerves, blood vessels, bones, and joints of the entire human body with high precision, while simultaneously achieving realistic movement through 3D motion graphics. This app's unique feature is its ability to display a 3D model of the entire body, faithfully recreated from CT and MRI data. Users can view a total of 827 body parts, including muscles, ligaments, nerves, blood vessels, and bones, in detail, as well as skeletal movement and morphology at any angle and magnification. Furthermore, users can intuitively control the desired part of the body even when viewing the entire body, eliminating the need for additional learning. Incidentally, in developing the commercially available "teamLabBody" app, teamLab also evolved the user interface to make it easier to use. While anatomically-based 3D human body model apps for iPad have been around for some time, none have so realistically reproduced the movements and morphology of a living human. Furthermore, existing apps were only available in English or featured unique interfaces, limiting usability even for non-medical users. The app's easy-to-use interface will likely expand its use. This is why "teamLabBody" is likely to attract attention from a wide range of business sectors. While a vast number of tablet apps have already been released, few are profitable. While many software companies are entering the market primarily for experimental purposes, medical apps are said to be one of the few categories with solid demand. teamLab, the publisher of "teamLabBody," is a collective of technologists comprised of a wide range of specialists, including programmers, engineers, designers, and architects. While the team has attracted attention for its work in the art and entertainment fields, it also has extensive experience developing apps for medical and other business fields. Rather than calling this an endeavor, it would be better to call it a steady step into a new business field.

The price of "teamLabBody" is 2,600 yen. A light version with the same functions, compatible devices, and language, but limited to the head and neck, is also on sale at the same time for 85 yen. teamLab plans to release an Android version around summer. They are also considering creating yoga textbook software based on "teamLabBody." In the future, this 3D human body model app, based on new knowledge, may become actively used in familiar fields.