Human Atlas: an open-source 3D anatomy explorer in the browser
Open-source 3D anatomy explorer: 2,234 selectable BodyParts3D meshes, system layers, search, and exploded views.
At a glance
- What is it?
- Human Atlas is an MIT-licensed 3D anatomy explorer with 2,234 selectable BodyParts3D meshes, system layers, search and exploded views, running in the browser. It is a free, open alternative to commercial anatomy apps, built on real anatomical mesh data.
- Who is it for?
- Use Human Atlas if you want a free, open, browser-based 3D anatomy explorer with selectable BodyParts3D meshes, system layers, search and exploded views, for learning or as a base to extend. Do not treat it as a clinically authoritative or exhaustive medical reference, since its coverage is bounded by the BodyParts3D dataset.
- Can I use it commercially?
- Yes. MIT is a permissive licence: you can use, modify and sell software built on it, as long as you keep its copyright and licence notices.
- Is it still maintained?
- Yes. The repository last received commits 11 days ago.
- What is it written in?
- Mainly TypeScript, according to GitHub's language statistics.
Answers come from the project's GitHub data, last synced on September 16, 2026, and from our analysis. They are not legal advice.
DEEP OPEN-SOURCE ANALYSIS
What Human Atlas offers
Exploring human anatomy in 3D is usually the domain of paid apps like Complete Anatomy or Visible Body. Human Atlas is an open-source alternative that runs in the browser. It is a 3D anatomy explorer built on 2,234 selectable BodyParts3D meshes, with system layers so you can isolate, say, the skeletal or muscular system, a search to find a structure by name, and exploded views that separate parts to show how they fit. The audience is students, educators and the curious who want an interactive 3D anatomy tool without a subscription, and developers who want an open base to build on. It is a web application, so it runs in a browser with a hosted version available, and its value rests on pairing a real anatomical mesh dataset with an interactive viewer, giving free access to structured 3D anatomy rather than static images.
BodyParts3D meshes with layers and exploded views
The mechanism is a WebGL 3D viewer over a curated anatomical dataset. The 2,234 meshes come from BodyParts3D, an established anatomical model dataset, and Human Atlas makes each one individually selectable, so clicking a structure identifies it and lets you focus on it. System layers group the meshes by body system, so you can toggle whole systems on and off rather than hunting part by part, and search jumps to a named structure directly. Exploded views move parts apart along their spatial relationships so the arrangement is visible rather than hidden inside the body. The repository includes validation scripts for the atlas data and the interactions, which signals attention to the dataset's correctness. This combination, real per-mesh anatomical data plus layering, search and exploded views in a browser, is what turns a mesh collection into a usable explorer.
Running it or using the hosted version
There is a hosted version you can open directly, and the project runs locally as a standard front-end app. To run it yourself you install dependencies and start the dev server:
npm ci
npm run devThe repository also has scripts to validate the atlas data and interactions and to build for production, and it is set up to deploy on Vercel, which is where the public instance runs. The first real use is simplest through the hosted site: open it, search for a structure or toggle a system layer, select a mesh to identify it, and try an exploded view to see how parts separate. Running locally with npm ci and npm run dev is the path if you want to modify it or work with the atlas data, which the validation scripts help keep correct as you change things.
Where an open explorer has limits
The limitations are worth being clear about, especially for anything beyond learning. Human Atlas is an educational and exploratory tool built on the BodyParts3D dataset, so its anatomical coverage and level of detail are bounded by that dataset rather than being a clinically validated or exhaustive reference, and it should not be treated as authoritative for medical decisions. As a browser 3D application, rendering thousands of meshes is demanding, so performance depends on the device and can strain lower-end hardware. It presents the anatomy the data provides, without the annotations, clinical content, or guided courses that paid apps layer on. And it is a focused explorer, not a full anatomy education platform. These are the expected boundaries of a free, open, dataset-driven tool, and they mean it complements formal resources rather than replacing an authoritative medical reference.
Human Atlas versus commercial anatomy apps
The alternatives are commercial 3D anatomy apps such as Complete Anatomy or Visible Body. Those are polished, feature-rich and often clinically reviewed, with annotations, quizzes and curated content, but they are subscription-priced, closed, and platform-specific. Human Atlas's difference is that it is free, open source under MIT, and runs in any browser, built transparently on the public BodyParts3D dataset, so you can inspect it, self-host it and build on it, at the cost of the depth, polish and vetted clinical content the paid apps provide. The choice follows the need. Use a commercial app when you need comprehensive, annotated, clinically reviewed content and will pay for it; choose Human Atlas when you want free, open, interactive 3D anatomy for learning or as a base to extend, and the BodyParts3D coverage meets your needs.
MIT license and maintenance
Human Atlas is MIT-licensed, so it is freely reusable and forkable, and it is a TypeScript web application with data-validation scripts and a Vercel deployment. The last push was on 2026-09-06. The presence of scripts that validate both the atlas data and the interactions suggests care about keeping the anatomical dataset and the viewer correct as the project evolves, which matters for a tool people learn from. Adopt it when you want a free, open, browser-based 3D anatomy explorer for study or as a foundation to build on, use the hosted version to try it immediately, or run it locally with npm ci and npm run dev to modify it, and treat it as an educational explorer grounded in BodyParts3D rather than an authoritative clinical reference.
Editorial conclusion
Use Human Atlas if you want a free, open, browser-based 3D anatomy explorer with selectable BodyParts3D meshes, system layers, search and exploded views, for learning or as a base to extend. Do not treat it as a clinically authoritative or exhaustive medical reference, since its coverage is bounded by the BodyParts3D dataset. Try the hosted version to explore immediately, or run it locally with npm ci and npm run dev to modify it, and pair it with formal resources for authoritative content.
Frequently asked questions
What is Human Atlas?
Human Atlas is an MIT-licensed open-source 3D anatomy explorer that runs in the browser, with 2,234 selectable BodyParts3D meshes, system layers, search and exploded views. It is a free alternative to commercial anatomy apps.
How do I run it?
There is a hosted version you can open directly. To run it locally, install dependencies with npm ci and start it with npm run dev; the repository also has scripts to validate the atlas data and build for production.
Is it a clinical reference?
No. It is an educational and exploratory tool built on the public BodyParts3D dataset, so its coverage and detail are bounded by that data and it is not clinically validated. Use it for learning, not for medical decisions.
Community notes