2D vs 3D: Battle of the Dimensions

 

2d, 3d, reconstruction, connectome, neo, neuroscience, new game, new cells, neuroscience, eyewire, electron microscope, connectomics,
Depiction of a 2D image stack with 3D reconstruction from data for Neo, a new brain mapping game from the creators of Eyewire coming in 2019 / Amy Sterling

It’s time to choose! Do you you prefer the perspective that 3D objects give you, or do you opt for the beautiful simplicity of 2D?

Eyewire combines a stack of 2D images together to create the 3D neurons that you see in the game. The 3D allows us to see cool, realistic cell reconstructions that appear as they would be seen if you could shrink down and jump inside a mouse’s brain. But of course, the 3D couldn’t exist without the original stack of 2D electron microscope images taken from our data set, which was generated by Max Planck Institute.

To learn more about the neuroscience of Eyewire, check out science.eyewire.org.

So do you prefer the original EM images of cells that otherwise are invisible to the naked eye? Or the 3D models that give us a glimpse into the actual structures of the brain?

We couldn’t have one without the other, but still you must make your choice! Will it be 2D or 3D? May the best dimensions win!

The competition begins on Thursday March 7th at 11 am ET and runs for 24 hours. Hope to see you there!