Magscope is a web-based educational program that simulates the best features of a microscope, and greatly improves on their limitations using the full range of interactivities made possible by ICT. It is designed primarily for use in education, and is suitable for many types of large images in addition to microscopy.
Magscope has very significant advantages over existing Virtual Microscopes, addressing all the shortcomings they currently face, including cost, user training, administration, infrastructure, interactivity, distribution, program installation, and educational value.
Magscope is useful whenever an image needs supporting information, an image is larger than can be easily displayed on a computer screen, or an image contains areas of interest that need to be indicated.
Topics that Magscope is ideal for include educational images used in: microscopy, anatomy, radiography, pathology, astronomy, architecture, engineering, archaeology, art appreciation, geography, geology - anywhere that images need to be linked with information.
How Magscope improves on the Current Situation
Although a number of “Virtual Microscopes” currently exist, they all suffer from many of the following limitations:
- They may require installation of an executable program onto the user’s computer. This presents funding, maintenance, licensing, and security problems for Institutions and Network Administrators, and limits the number of platforms (e.g. Windows) that can be used. It also makes group work and information sharing very difficult for end users.
Magscope does not require executable installation, and runs on all popular operating systems, e.g. Windows, Apple, Linux.
Web-based (or Browser-based) systems can address some of these difficulties. However:
- Web-based Virtual Microscopes usually rely on “Third Party” Components such as Java, Flash, or QuickTime. These components require installation and regular “version upgrading” by users of the computer, again presenting funding, maintenance, licensing, and security problems for Institutions as well as individual computer owners.
Magscope does not rely on third party components or objects, and does not require installation of any first party components or objects.
- Web-based Virtual Microscopes may rely on non-standard features available only from a single Operating System (for example, Image Transitions in MS Internet Explorer), and do not function correctly on any other browser.
Magscope runs on all popular browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Konqueror, Opera.
- Virtual Microscopes may do little more than emulate the functions of a physical microscope, i.e. The user can Magnify and Move the slide.
Magscope is not confined to emulation of physical systems – it fully embraces the interactive nature of the computer based virtual world.
- Some Virtual Microscopes allow image manipulations like blurring or changing image brightness/contrast. Preliminary investigations by this team show that
- Blurring: Having to manually focus electronically blurred images adds nothing to the user experience. It does not teach the User how to navigate through thick sections, as in physical microscopy – it merely delays the User’s progress.
- Adjusting Brightness/Contrast: Because of the limited number (256) of brightness steps available in electronic images, this immediately causes image wash-out (unlike the real situation where unseen detail can come into view).
Magscope does not complicate or confuse – it provides only features that improve the learning and teaching experience and the display and sharing of information.
- Virtual Microscopes can not link data to specific regions on images.
Magscope has “pseudo-intelligence”, and can present information to a user about the detailed area they are looking at, wherever it is. This information can be in any form – Text, images, further Magscope Pictures, self-assessments, podcasts, videos, audio clips, links to further web pages, group-authoring wikis, etc.
- Virtual Microscopes can not auto-navigate to points of interest in a picture
Magscope can automatically find a point-of-interest on an image, move to it, and zoom to present the best view of the detail. Points of interest are pre-set by the author of the individual Magscope Picture, and can be associated with further information.
- Virtual Microscopes often require images to be converted into proprietary file types, e.g. SWF (Flash Object) format, or stored in databases as binary streams.
Magscope will work with any image that can be displayed in a web-standards-compliant browser: e.g. JPEG, GIF, PNG. SWF support is also available.
- Virtual Microscopes usually require the images to be stored in a special location.
Magscope works independently of the image. The image can be stored anywhere, for example on an unrelated web site, a CD ROM, or a memory stick.
- Consideration is not given to people who are unable to use a mouse for Zooming, Panning, button-clicking etc.
All Magscope Functions are possible using either the mouse, or keyboard short-cuts. For people with physical disabilities, “Tab and Enter” control and Voice control are under development.
- Direct Distance measurement is not possible across images – if anything, just a conventional Scale Bar is used.
Magscope allows direct read-out distance measurement across any part of the image, in addition to a Scale Bar which auto-sizes according to the zoom level.
- Most Physical Microscopes have not been able to incorporate Zoom lenses, and still rely on manual Lens-Switching. Magnification on many Virtual Microscopes is also done in steps, not a smooth zoom-in zoom-out. Although this simulates one of the limitations of physical microscopy, it does not add to the user experience.
Magscope allows smooth Zooming in and out, as well as step-wise magnification.
- Creation and dissemination of images by Teachers can be very complex, involving many image-manipulation and web-programming skills.
Magscope uses standard web images (JPG, PNG, GIF), and the entire process of creating and uploading a Magscope Image is automated, requiring no special skills.
- An internet connection is normally required to use web-based virtual microscopes. This can cause problems when an internet connection is unavailable or unreliable. Additionally, there can be Copyright and Intellectual Property issues when the internet is involved.
Magscope works at any level: it can be run on an un-connected stand-alone machine, a private network, a CD-ROM, a password protected web site, or on the open Internet.
- Virtual Microscopes are single-function programs, devoted to displaying slides.
Magscope works well with any type of image. Image presentation can be anything from a single label on a static image to a fully-functional multi-control microscope/telescope simulator.
Other Features
- Magscope has a colour drawing board facility. Teachers can draw lines and arrows directly over Magscope images in real time, for example during a lecture.
- Magscope has a “Locator” facility. One button will instantly zoom an image out until the entire picture is shown. Releasing the button will zoom back to the original view, allowing the user to re-orient themselves.
- Magscope can save “detail views of interest” as the user comes across them while looking around a picture. The user can then instantly move back to views of interest later in the session.
- Magscope can use masks and overlays of varying opacity to highlight areas of interest, without having to manipulate the original image. These masks and overlays can be switched on and off by the end user, as required.
- Magscope can use Marker Pins and Flags on points of interest that appear and disappear according to the current level of magnification. Clicking on them can call up additional information, as required.
- Magscope can appear inside other web pages, as an integral and inline part of the page, using just 1 line of HTML code.
- The Magscope Editor allows authors to create and disseminate projects with no programming knowledge.