Augmented reality is an increasingly popular technology for teaching people about anatomy and medicine.  Indeed, UC San Francisco have been using virtual reality to train medical students in recent years.

Perhaps a sign of the progress being is the adoption of augmented reality by BBC Two documentary Human Body: Secretes of Your Life Revealed.  The program will utilize augmented reality to help viewers explore the insides of our bodies in incredible detail.

The technology itself has been developed by a partnership between the Open University and BBC Studios, and will use an app and the camera built into the smartphone to bring organs such as the heart and brain to life.  The content itself was developed by British startup Zappar, and each animation has hotspots that allow users to learn more about each organ and how they work.

The software even features a ‘selfie mode’ that allows you to project an organ over your own body.  Users can easily share such images online, with the developers hoping this will encourage a viral learning experience.

“It’s been great working with the OU on the BBC’s first Science AR experience – allowing us to engage the audience beyond a television series, in a fully interactive way. It’s full of surprising facts and useful take home advice providing further detail about all the organs featured in the BBC Two series,” the BBC say.

You can download the app for free via the BBC website here – http://bbc.co.uk/humanbody