VRML models of the Antennal Lobe in Drosophila melanogaster

VRML models of the Antennal Lobe in Drosophila melanogaster

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Introduction & Prerequisites

Three-dimensional and interactive models can be made available on the internet for normal desktop computers using the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML).
VRML2 (or VRML97) is a 3D description language that allows interactive programming using VRMLScript, JavaScript, or Java and has become an ISO standard (ISO/IEC 14772). Thus, VRML is momentarily a reliable language to present 3D data. Browsers (plug-ins for Netscape or Internet Explorer) are freeware and available for PC, Macintosh and UNIX platforms:

Cosmo Player, Cosmo Software, SGI
(PC, Mac, Silicon Graphics)
WorldView, Intervista
(PC, Mac)

Once you have installed one of the suggested plug-ins you may investigate the following models:

Specimen 1: Interactive VRML2 model with images of sections

The reconstructed 3D VRML97 model consists of 48 surfaces (glomeruli) consisting of several thousand triangles. Furthermore, nearly 100 images (converted original confocal images (z layer) as well as interpolated images (x, y layers)) can be moved through the 3D volume. All surface objects can be removed. By double-clicking onto the surfaces a little ball appears next to the y bar instead of the surface. You may click on these little balls and the surface reappears.

VRML2 model 1: Click to remove arrays and classes of glomeruli
(1 MB data, 100 files)
VRML2 model 2: Click to remove single glomeruli
(1 MB data, 100 files)

Specimen 2: Interactive VRML2 model with information about glomeruli

Information about the glomeruli is provided in the right frame. Clicking on a glomerulus in the VRML model scrolls the frame to the current glomerulus (description on top of the column). Glomerular arrays have the same color code as in Model 1. The orientation of the antennal lobe within the complete animal is indicated by three orthogonal axes. P, posterior; V, ventral; M, medial.

VRML2 model: Click to get information about glomeruli

Specimens 3 and 4: Simple VRML surface models

In these two surface models, names of the glomeruli are indicated at the bottom of the viewer.

Software used on a SGI Octane MXI:

Amira (Release 98, Konrad Zuse Zentrum, Berlin; recommended software)
Cosmoworlds 1.0.3
Imaris 2.6.8, Bitplane (unstable, not recommended)

Flybrain Atlas 3D Flybrain 3D Models Antennal Lobe VRML Models

AB00203