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Researching the Blue-Ringed Octopus

The origins of the project came through Dr. Julian Finn at Museums Victoria and his research into the blue-ringed octopus. On a dive in 1996, Dr. Finn found a female blue-ringed octopus with eggs and took it back to the aquarium at the University of Melbourne Zoology Department. He preserved one hatchling in Bouin¡¯s solution and years later started collaborating with Dr. David Ackland of the University of Melbourne, who was able to scan the specimen using a micro-CT to study it further.

How Simpleware Became Involved

In 2015, we ran a contest for unusual image data that, if chosen, would be turned into an animated video using Simpleware ScanIP. Dr. Ackland submitted his micro-CT data and took first prize out of three total winners, who all received an animation. Dr. Ackland also received a 3D printed model, which he used as a teaching aid for better understanding the blue-ringed octopus.

Creating the Blue-Ringed Octopus Animation

Simpleware ScanIP was used to segment the relevant regions of interest (ROIs) of the octopus micro-CT data, including anatomical parts such as the brain and vessels. We then created an animated clip using the Animation toolbox in Simpleware ScanIP, which helps exploring the image data and the final 3D model. 

Making the Video for Kids

In the last year, we wanted to create a video as part of ²ÝÁñÉçÇø¡¯ community outreach efforts that could help 6-12-year-olds understand our technology in a fun and relatable way. The video shows how the blue-ringed octopus specimen was obtained, scanned, modeled and animated using Simpleware ScanIP software, and finally 3D printed. We especially wanted to communicate some quite complex technical information in a way that would be accessible to younger viewers.

You can see how the entire process came together in the final video below. We hope that you and your children enjoy it and learn something about the blue-ringed octopus and how science and engineering helped look inside it.