From human anatomy to global health—making medical science explorable on site and in the cloud

Science Centre Singapore is one of Asia’s leading science centres, welcoming more than 1.5 million visitors annually and widely recognised for excellence in science communication and public engagement. Storyvoxel has worked with Science Centre Singapore for over a decade, beginning with the centre’s installation of its first Inside Explorer system in 2012—the first deployment outside Sweden.

Inside Explorer has since become a central interactive element in the permanent exhibition Uniquely You, where visitors explore human anatomy and medical science through real imaging data. Building on this long‑standing collaboration, Science Centre Singapore also became the first institution worldwide to adopt Inside Explorer Cloud™, extending explorable scientific visualisation beyond the physical exhibition space.

The challenge

Science Centre Singapore’s mission is to make complex science accessible, relevant, and engaging for broad audiences. In the context of medical science, this presents several challenges:

• Human anatomy, medical imaging, and epidemiology involve concepts that are difficult to communicate using static illustrations or 2D media

• Traditional scientific visualisation tools require specialist software and powerful hardware, limiting their use to experts

• Rapidly evolving topics—such as the COVID‑19 pandemic—create an urgent need for accurate, trustworthy public understanding

• The science centre sought ways to expand engagement beyond physical galleries and into digital environments

To meet these challenges, the Centre needed interactive solutions grounded in real scientific data, capable of supporting both long‑term education and timely science communication.

The solution

Inside Explorer for on‑site exploration

Storyvoxel provided Inside Explorer as a core interactive platform within the Uniquely You exhibition. Using real medical imaging data, visitors can explore the human body in 3D—interacting with organs, systems, and structures in ways comparable to tools used in modern hospitals and research environments.

The installation enables:

• Hands‑on exploration of anatomy through intuitive interaction

• Visualisation of internal structures that are normally invisible

• Communication of advanced concepts such as medical imaging and virtual autopsy

Addressing global health through explorable data

As part of its commitment to timely science education, Science Centre Singapore expanded its Inside Explorer content to include material focused on the COVID‑19 pandemic and the SARS‑CoV‑2 virus. The interactive exhibit helps visitors visualise the invisible—supporting understanding of viruses, transmission, and epidemiology through explorable scientific data rather than simplified graphics or narratives.

Inside Explorer Cloud™ – removing technical barriers

To extend access beyond physical exhibitions, Storyvoxel developed Inside Explorer Cloud™, a fully cloud‑based interactive 3D streaming service. Science Centre Singapore became the first customer to deploy the platform.

Inside Explorer Cloud™ performs all computation on cloud servers and streams interactive 3D content in real time to any device with a web browser. This removes long‑standing technical barriers associated with scientific 3D visualisation, enabling:

• Device‑independent access without specialist hardware

• Scalable deployment for education and outreach

• Cost‑effective access to high‑fidelity scientific datasets

Key outcomes

• More than a decade of continuous use of Inside Explorer in a leading science centre

• Real medical imaging data made explorable for broad public audiences

• Improved understanding of human anatomy and medical science through interaction

• Timely science communication addressing COVID‑19 and global health

• First global deployment of Inside Explorer Cloud™, enabling scalable, device‑independent access to scientific 3D visualisation