A geoscience perspective on immersive 3D gridded data visualization

We describe visualization software, Visualizer, that was developed specifically for interactive, visual exploration in immersive virtual reality (VR) environments. Visualizer uses carefully optimized algorithms and data structures to support the high frame rates required for immersion and the real-time feedback required for interactivity. As an application developed for VR from the ground up, Visualizer realizes benefits that usually cannot be achieved by software initially developed for the desktop and later ported to VR. However, Visualizer can also be used on desktop systems (unix/linux-based operating systems including Mac OS X) with a similar level of real-time interactivity, bridging the "software gap" between desktop and VR that has been an obstacle for the adoption of VR methods in the Geosciences. While many of the capabilities of Visualizer are already available in other software packages used in a desktop environment, the features that distinguish Visualizer are: (1) Visualizer can be used in any VR environment including the desktop, GeoWall, or CAVE, (2) in non-desktop environments the user interacts with the data set directly using a wand or other input devices instead of working indirectly via dialog boxes or text input, (3) on the desktop, Visualizer provides real-time interaction with very large data sets that cannot easily be viewed or manipulated in other software packages. Three case studies are presented that illustrate the direct scientific benefits realized by analyzing data or simulation results with Visualizer in a VR environment. We also address some of the main obstacles to widespread use of VR environments in scientific research with a user study that shows Visualizer is easy to learn and to use in a VR environment and can be as effective on desktop systems as native desktop applications. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.