Book publisher Dorling Kindersley (DK) has teamed up with digital agency AKQA to create an iPad app version of its bestselling The Human Body Book.

The app turns the book into an interactive digital tool, which AKQA says is designed for children, students, and as a reference for professionals. 

Readers can use their finger to swipe 3D layers of the human bodys systems on a 3D-rendered interactive model, and zoom into detailed illustrations. Written in conjunction with doctors and practitioners, the app covers 12 systems of the body, is illustrated with over 200 specially commissioned images, and contains almost 100 story pages, each with annotations, and illustrations, says AKQA. 

Daniel Rosen, Head of AKQA Mobile says: “With this app DK offered us the chance to re-invent an award-winning, globally recognised book for the digital age.”

The app also has four CGI movies of key processes in the human body, and features haptic feedback, so readers can feel the CG models heart beating. 

“This is the most ambitious digital project undertaken by DK,” says Justin Moodie, digital publishing director for DK. “It genuinely sets a new standard for illustrated reference products.”

The Human Body Book app is available for £9.99 ($13.99 in the US) from the App Store.