Abstract

Human cranial nerves are a group of 12 pairs of nerves originating from the cerebrum and the brainstem. These nerves are mainly responsible for the sensation and motor functions in the head and neck region. A step-by-step approach of cranial nerve assessment during diagnosis is crucial to identify which part(s) of cranial nerves is/are damaged so proper management can be rapidly provided and improve patients’ quality of life.

As our health professional students, they are expected to understand the importance of cranial nerves such as eyeball rolling and the consequence of nerve damage such as facial paralysis. However, it is always a challenging part when they are learning all the cranial nerve functions and related disorders due to the complexity of their organizations inside a human brain.

In this proposed project - Multi-disciplinary Collaboration of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality on Human Anatomy Electronic Learning (MARVEL), we aim to develop a user-friendly and accessible mobile app to enhance the understanding on the organizations and functions of human cranial nerves under augmented reality (AR). Also, we aim to simulate the neurological assessment by virtual reality (VR) technology.

The design of MARVEL will cover the key information and assessment of each topic. To evaluate the impact and usefulness of MARVEL, we will introduce the focus group interview and the questionnaire to collect and analyze the feedbacks from users. We look ahead to this proposed project to boost up self-learning motivation of our health professional students outside the classroom.