Multiscale harmonization and semantic integration of biomedical data enable biological insights through immersive
Andreas Bueckle1, Chenchen Zhu2, Alex Yu Hin Wong3,4
1Department of Intelligent Systems Engineering, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|July 17, 2026
Summary
The Human Reference Atlas (HRA) offers a virtual reality application for exploring organ data. This tool allows users to visualize datasets across multiple organs and spatial scales immersively.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical informatics
- Data visualization
- Human anatomy
Background:
- The Human Reference Atlas (HRA) provides a framework for multiscale data exploration.
- Integrating and visualizing complex biological data remains a challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce "HRA: Powers of Ten," a virtual reality (VR) application.
- To enable immersive integration, harmonization, and visualization of HRA Organ Gallery data.
Main Methods:
- Developed a VR application utilizing a Multiscale Elevator System.
- Integrated datasets across 5 organs, 5 assay types, and 4 spatial scales.
- Enabled navigation from whole-body view to detailed organ datasets.
Main Results:
- The "HRA: Powers of Ten" application facilitates immersive exploration of human organ data.
- Users can navigate data from a macro (whole-body) to micro (cellular) level.
- The application supports multiscale data visualization within the HRA Organ Gallery.
Conclusions:
- The VR application enhances accessibility and understanding of complex HRA data.
- Open-source availability of the application, data, and code promotes collaboration.
- This tool advances multiscale data exploration in human anatomy and biology.
