"Visualisation is an important part of research"
Re-Imagine the Guradians of the galaxy: One of the student works at LRZ's Open Lab day
For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic, the LRZ is once again hosting an Open Lab Day at the Centre for Virtual Reality and Visualisation (V2C): a discussion about the programme and visualisation in research.
The evolution of the earth and the continents, the prediction of climate trends, processes in the universe or in the human body: visualisations of research results and their implementation in virtual reality (VR) bring complex data to life and help to gain new scientific insights. This can also be done in a playful way: you can see that for yourself during the Open Lab Day on 5 December at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ). From 5.30 p.m., students will present educational games, fascinating natural phenomena and, above all, experiences in visualising research data and programming VR applications in the five-sided CAVE of the Centre for Virtual Reality and Visualisation (V2C). Dr Thomas Odaker, head of the V2C, and Elisabeth Mayer, who designs and researches 3D and VR applications, preview the Open Lab Day programme and explain why visualisation is becoming increasingly important in science.
You have chosen the theme "Re-Imagine" for the Open Lab Day - why? Dr Thomas Odaker: From 2012 to 2019, the Open Lab Day was a permanent fixture in the LRZ's calendar of events. After that, we were not able to continue this tradition – first the coronavirus pandemic threw a spanner in the works, then we had to take a year off for the renovation of the CAVE. Elisabeth Mayer: This year we finally have an Open Lab Day again, a new start so to speak. And since we are picking up where we left off after the break, but this time in the new CAVE and with fresh ideas, '(Re-)Imagine' was a good choice of motto.
What do you show from your workshop? Odaker: This Open Lab Day is all about the students. We are keeping a low profile, but we will of course be there on the evening of December, 5, and look forward to exchanging ideas and talking shop with our guests.
The students will be presenting their work from the V2C internship – what will they be showing? Mayer: Students of media informatics at the LMU and graduates of our 'Virtual Reality' internship, which took place in the summer semester of 2024, will show projects and final theses. Under the motto '(Re-)Imagine', participants of the internship were able to reinvent existing games or ideas. The Moorhuhn was reborn, as was a horror escape room, the moon landing was reimagined or a virtual driving simulator – A total of 13 works will be on display at the Open Lab Day, including eight final theses from the internship and two Master's theses. The XR Hub Bavaria, the network of Bavarian media professionals and artists, is also taking part and enriching the programme.
EcoNinja - a game about saving nature
Virtual Reality – is this a regular internship? And who does it at V2C? Odaker: The internship takes place during the summer semester and is aimed at students preparing for their master's degree in computer science, media informatics or human-computer interaction. They get up close and personal with a CAVE, the five-sided projection installation at the LRZ, learn how to use such a system and gain experience in programming VR. “Learning by doing" is our motto, usually we just give a general theme or impulse – this year was it Re-Image – so that the students can give free rein to their creativity and develop applications that will run in the CAVE.
The V2C visualises research data and uses it to construct applications in virtual reality: What research disciplines are you working for? Odaker: The V2C has been in existence since 2012 and we have worked with researchers from many disciplines - seismology, geological history, climate science or geography, medicine and more generally the classic high-performance computing disciplines such as physics or astrophysics. We are currently supporting many projects in archaeology and art history. Overall, we always start with a good mix of different research disciplines, so we never get bored.
Do you work with students, do you use assistants? Mayer : Always with pleasure – we usually have student assistants who help us with the various projects. The tasks are varied and range from preparing data sets and 3D modelling to transferring the data to the CAVE or the Powerwall of the LRZ. We often find interested parties among the trainees. Among other things, the LRZ is a digitisation partner of the two Munich Universities of Excellence, both of which offer their own internships in the field of visualisation. A visit to the LRZ and the CAVE is usually part of the course programme – that’s another way in which we find support.
AINPC - a critical work about the use of AI
Are visualisations now part of research projects? Odaker: The motivation for setting up a V2C at the LRZ was to support research projects with visualisation and VR and to prepare research data accordingly. Visualisation has become an important part of research work over the last decades and continues to grow in importance. Data sets are getting bigger, models and simulations are getting more complex, and somehow researchers need to understand what they have calculated and how to communicate their results as clearly as possible. Visualisation addresses these needs; images make complexity understandable and help to take a different perspective. Mayer: That's why we don't just focus on high-resolution images at the V2C, the LRZ also relies on VR. Whether for data analysis or science communication, VR is being used more and more, it is easier to use today than when we started, and it is well received and accepted by scientists and the public. As a result, visualisations and applications in VR are becoming an integral part of more and more research projects and applications.
Will there be another Open Lab Day next year? Odaker: We've had a long enough break now, so we're planning to organise an Open Lab Day every year from now on. (Interview: vs/LRZ)
Atthack: a VR game about drones.