Toward mobile 3D visualization for structural biologists

Mol Biosyst. 2013 Dec;9(12):2956-60. doi: 10.1039/c3mb70361d. Epub 2013 Oct 14.

Abstract

Technological advances in crystallography have led to the ever-rapidly increasing number of biomolecular structures deposited in public repertoires. This undoubtedly shifts the bottleneck of structural biology research from obtaining high-quality structures to data analysis and interpretation. The recently available glasses-free autostereoscopic laptop offers an unprecedented opportunity to visualize and study 3D structures using a much more affordable, and for the first time, portable device. Together with a gamepad re-programmed for 3D structure controlling, we describe how the gaming technologies can deliver the output 3D images for high-quality viewing, comparable to that of a passive stereoscopic system, and can give the user more control and flexibility than the conventional controlling setup using only a mouse and a keyboard.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Crystallography
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods*
  • Proteins / chemistry*
  • User-Computer Interface

Substances

  • Proteins