EurekAlert reports:

V-Frog, the world's first virtual-reality-based frog dissection software designed for biology education -- allowing not mere observation, but physically simulated dissection -- has been developed and is being marketed by Tactus Technologies... a spin-off of the University at Buffalo Virtual Reality Laboratory.

“Other products out there are multi-media, not true virtual reality,” explains Kevin P. Chugh, Ph.D. ’01, president and chief scientist at Tactus Technologies, based in Getzville, a northern suburb of Buffalo.

V-Frog, which operates on a personal computer using a standard mouse, actually simulates nearly unlimited manipulation of specimen tissue. As a result, every dissection is different, reflecting each student’s individual work. The software is designed for grades 7 through 12, plus advanced placement biology students.

Using a simple mouse and PC, students can “pick up” a scalpel, cut open V-Frog’s skin, and explore the internal organs -- with true real-time interaction and 3-D navigation that actually accommodates discovery and procedures not possible with a physical frog specimen....

[A]t least 25 states have laws or ordinances mandating that, if dissection is part of a school’s curriculum, students must have an alternative to dissection.... Additionally, the use of V-Frog means students are not constrained to a lab environment. The state-of-the-art product complies with both inquiry and life science standards. Instructors can also model a dissection, observable by the entire class, using a projector. This teaching and learning experience can be conveniently repeated as often as desired.

V-Frog passed an important milestone when California approved V-Frog for legal and social compliance as per their State board of Education guidelines. It is also in the final stages of a similar review in New York State. According to Chugh, V-Frog’s simulated dissection is more economical than real dissection due to its one-time license cost versus annual replacement of real frogs, dissection supplies and chemicals.