Introduction

The z-book is a new concept in electronic textbooks. The linear text flow of conventional textbooks can only indirectly present the conceptual structure of complex subject areas, which makes it difficult to absorb the content. E-books only follow the structure of printed books and do not take advantage of the many new possibilities offered by electronic formats. In a z-book, we visually map the structure of the content on an infinite virtual canvas and provide navigation similar to zoomable geographical maps.
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Publication

After the rollout of the prototype based on the pancreas organ education material provided by the Medical University of Heidelberg   a scientific publication of z-book will be approved in a few weeks and published on Journal of innovation and knowledge operated by Elsevier.
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How to learn from a z-book?

Link to the prototype  >>> Pancreas z-book
Anatomy is a vast body of complex knowledge. One-dimensional linear text is not the optimal learning material for comprehension of this multidimensional structure. So, we have developed a new format that presents the same information in a different, highly structured layout.
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 z-book cosortium

With the support of the EUROSTARS-2 grant, an international consortium has been set up to prototype an anatomy textbook and validate the hypothesis on learning efficiency. The consortium has three members:


4D Soft Ltd's tasks has been: concept development, z-book platform development, z-book editing, implementation, usage monitoring and project management.  >>> learn more about 4D SOFT


The Medical University of Heidelberg has provided the content, the peer review of the z-book, the implementation and evaluation of the learning experiment. >>> learn more about UHEI

Inova Ltd, has developed a 3D segmentation and 3D printing application using radiological images, which has been integrated into the z-book for evaluation use. >>>   learn more about INOVA

About z- book

The z-book project aims to resolve the contradiction between thinking in a structured way but using a linear flow of text to transfer knowledge. The lack of unity of content and form makes it difficult to understand and absorb the subject. In this project, we have developed a visual language for communicating complex knowledge, with a structure that matches that of human models of thinking and memorisation as established by cognitive psychology. We used a new writing support, a zoomable virtual canvas, and other computer visualisation techniques.
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