Loretto Elementary students use virtual reality to tour human body

Oct 22, 2018 - First-grade students at Loretto Elementary School took a closer look into the human body with the use of a "virtual reality" smartphone app that shows life-like depictions of the heart and lungs.

Using a bright blue pixelated "virtual reality" T-shirt and a model of a human skeleton, school nurse Mary Johnson was able to give the first-graders in Nancy Andrysco's first-grade class a visual lesson of the human cardiovascular system.

When hovering a smartphone over shirt, the screen shows realistic and detailed videos of a beating heart and breathing lungs. After seeing how the heart beats in the body, each student got to listen to their own heartbeats with a stethoscope. Johnson then answered questions the students had about their bones and muscles, and talked about the importance of staying healthy.

This is the first year the school has used this type of technology with their students in the classroom. Assistant Principal Laquitrice Johnson says she hopes to incorporate this technology into more classrooms throughout the school.

Here, Nurse Mary is pictured showing Ms. Andrysco's first grade students how the heart works using her smart phone.