by Jan Giedl, Benedict Ruppel, Florian Behrend

Our “IDP Forest Visualization” project, part of the computer science master's program, expands on an existing forest simulation created with Unreal Engine based on real GIS data. The digital twin of a forest area can be freely explored within it. You can walk between trees, examine their characteristics, and experience the landscape up close.

As part of the project, this simulation was adapted for the CAVE environment at the LRZ in Garching. The focus was less on the technical installation and more on creating a smooth, immersive experience: stable frame rates, intuitive movement, and natural interaction. Precise tracking and a controller allow users to move freely in the virtual forest and interact with individual trees to display real forest data, such as height or diameter.

The biggest challenges were optimizing performance and adapting the assets. Millions of high-resolution vegetation objects had to be reduced and materials simplified. Lighting, level of detail, and culling were also fundamentally revised to achieve smooth rendering despite limited hardware.