Department of Chemistry, Bioinformatics Research Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
Bioinformatics. 2017 Dec 1;33(23):3816-3818. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btx485.
There is a growing interest for the broad use of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) in the fields of bioinformatics and cheminformatics to visualize complex biological and chemical structures. AR and VR technologies allow for stunning and immersive experiences, offering untapped opportunities for both research and education purposes. However, preparing 3D models ready to use for AR and VR is time-consuming and requires a technical expertise that severely limits the development of new contents of potential interest for structural biologists, medicinal chemists, molecular modellers and teachers.
Herein we present the RealityConvert software tool and associated website, which allow users to easily convert molecular objects to high quality 3D models directly compatible for AR and VR applications. For chemical structures, in addition to the 3D model generation, RealityConvert also generates image trackers, useful to universally call and anchor that particular 3D model when used in AR applications. The ultimate goal of RealityConvert is to facilitate and boost the development and accessibility of AR and VR contents for bioinformatics and cheminformatics applications.
http://www.realityconvert.com.
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
增强现实（AR）和虚拟现实（VR）在生物信息学和化学信息学领域的广泛应用越来越受到关注，可用于可视化复杂的生物和化学结构。AR 和 VR 技术提供了令人惊叹和身临其境的体验，为研究和教育目的提供了尚未开发的机会。然而，准备可用于 AR 和 VR 的 3D 模型既耗时又需要技术专业知识，这严重限制了对结构生物学家、药物化学家、分子建模师和教师具有潜在兴趣的新内容的开发。
本文介绍了 RealityConvert 软件工具及其相关网站，该工具允许用户轻松地将分子对象转换为直接兼容 AR 和 VR 应用程序的高质量 3D 模型。对于化学结构，除了生成 3D 模型外，RealityConvert 还生成图像跟踪器，在使用 AR 应用程序时，这些跟踪器可用于通用调用和固定该特定 3D 模型。RealityConvert 的最终目标是促进和推动生物信息学和化学信息学应用的 AR 和 VR 内容的开发和普及。
http://www.realityconvert.com。
补充数据可在 Bioinformatics 在线获得。
