SBIR Phase I: Comparative and Experimental Embryology Multimedia Software

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This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project from Biomedical Imaging Technology, Inc. is for creation of a CD-ROM, to teach comparative and experimental embryology to college students in zoological and veterinary sciences. The dynamic and integrated processes of development are difficult to learn or teach through textbooks. Computers, however, portray change very well. The proposed CD-ROM will have a complete text describing normal development of invertebrate and vertebrate animals and the experiments that elucidate the processes of development. The software package will include videos, animations, color photographs, illustrations, and microscopic images of organisms common in laboratory courses. Hypertext linkage will enable students to study concurrent development of different organ systems or similar developmental stages in different organisms. Project development involves writing text, scientific illustration, photomicrography, handling living materials, and processing of computer images, videos, and animations. The incorporation of processed data will entail programming with Microsoft Visual Basic and HTML. The primary target market includes four-year educational institutions, faculty members in biological fields, and undergraduate and graduate students with life science majors. Public libraries, progressive secondary schools, and other interested individuals supplement this annually renewable customer base. The commercial prospects of this project are further enhanced by the form and substance of the comprehensive computerized curriculum proffered. In keeping with the trend of institutions to move their curricula onto the Web, both multimedia web-based and CD-ROM versions will be produced. In accordance with the importance of subject of embryology in educational institutions throughout the world and with the fact that English remains the dominant language in science, international as well as U.S. sales are anticipated to be strong.