This project aims to help scientists communicate and collaborate in immersive environments. Fieldwork is more valuable to scientists than looking at abstract remote data, but expense, danger, or inaccessible locations often stand in the way. This project will address this issue by researching and designing immersive environments that combine remote data with visualisations and new interaction tools for science teams to make sense of spatial and temporal aspects of data. Outcomes will include new presentation and interaction methods, an evaluation with geoscientists, and a framework for designing interactive systems that enable situated interactions. Benefits will include helping Australian scientists overcome distance in their research.
This work is part of a School of Computer Science and School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences collaboration funded by an Australian Research Council grant. This ARC Discovery Project is led by Associate Professor Selen Türkay, with Associate Professor David Flannery as the co-CI.
Shown below are some immersive environments that have been developed as part of the Immersive Scientific Sensemaking Project.
Mars PIXLISE VR Experience
The Mars PIXLISE VR Experience aims to allow users to explore Mars in Virtual Reality. Taking control of Perserverance and its companion helicopter drone Ingenuity, users can revisit and explore various locations within the Jezero Crater, the primary hotspot for geological evidence for finding life on Mars.