Digital Humans CD-ROM, released in late March 96, has received favorable reviews unanimously in the general and computer magazines. We have reproduced text from known reviews below. If you happen to know of a review which is not mentioned below, please send us a note so we may add the information.

American Scientist, November-December 1996:

"Digital Humans builds on the level of knowledge one has after an introduction to anatomy such as [ADAM Software's] The Inside Story, an anatomy text or an atlas. Since Digital Humans was prepared using real bodies, it is highly realistic, but it is not gruesome. The cross-sectional views, as "cryosections" or [CT] pictures, are especially interesting. You can also rotate the bodies and see them at skin depth, skeleton level or half-and-half. Technical details can be accessed easily as online text and help is obtained from spoken narratives... How Digital Humans was produced is at least as interesting as its anatomical content. There are video clips about locating the bodies, preparing the digital images and developments that are under way. There are also narratives in video and text form about the Visible Human Project ... Overall, both The Inside Story and Digital Humans will make wonderful gifts for anyone who wants to learn more about how the human body works, especially teenagers who may be interested in careers in health fields. At store prices of less than $40 [Adam's The Inside Story] and $20 [MMS Digital Humans CD-ROM], they are excellent investments for any family."

The Internet PC Review, September 1996:

"... Overall, the CD is a fascinating look inside the real human body. You’ll find the multimedia compelling. The sound effects are perfect, the music clips powerful. The CD is thoughtfully laid out with a notepad on a desk and options become checked as your cursor passes over them.

Amazingly, the CD sells for only $20 ... Considering the multitude of views that are possible, it’s a wonder this could be fit onto a single CD-ROM.

Digital Humans may not be for the squeamish. But if you have an interest in anatomy and "Gray’s Anatomy" left you wanting more, this one will fit the bill. As they say, there’s nothing like the real thing."

Scientific American, June 1996 (page 111):

"In one of the most remarkable triumphs of anatomy since Andreas Vesalius, the U.S. National Library of Medicine has funded a project to slice up two cadavers (one male, one female) and photograph and digitize the cross sections. The results are presented here as a collection of slices and as a set of three-dimensional models. These brutally honest views are both scientifically and philosophically riveting."

Jerry Pournelle's Column, BYTE Magazine, July 1996 (page 167):

"... The CD-ROM of the month is Digital Humans. Imagine taking sections through a human body (two, actually, one of each sex), starting at the feet and going all the way to the head; photographing each section; and adding labels and comments. That's part of what's on this Windows CD-ROM. There's a lot more, including 3-D models and the tools to manipulate them. This is the best anatomy tool short of dissecting a corpse that I know of. Fair warning: they really did section human corpses. This isn't for the squeamish."

BYTE Magazine, July 1996 (page 38):

"Several years ago, medical researchers at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, working in conjunction with the U.S. National Library of Medicine, started the Visible Human Project. The goals of the project were to turn a male and a female cadaver into high-resolution digital images and models, then make part of this research available to the public.

The original data from the project amounted to more than 50 gigabytes of digital images. The unprocessed data includes 6000 color photographs of cross-sectional anatomy as well as computer tomography and magnetic resonance images. The Digital Humans CD-ROM consists of a small sample of the data but gives a very educational and realistic glimpse into 3-D anatomy.

Thousands of cross-sectional color photographs were digitally layered to create a 3-D model of the skin and underlying tissue. This color 3-D model was then fused with a skeleton model reconstructed from the computer tomography images. You can interactively rotate and view the digital humans from the front or side or horizontally. When viewing with (enclosed) 3-D glasses, you see a stereoscopic view of human anatomy that comes close to what medical students see in a dissection room. One section of the program lets you rotate the head in three dimensions and see how the brain sits relative to the skull.

Additional applications are expected to come from the Visible Human Project. Research say they are working on virtual surgery on simulated combat wounds, as well as adding models of children and of people who died of different diseases."