CosmoScout VR: A Modular 3D Solar System Based on SPICE

Schneegans, Simon; Zeumer, Moritz; Gilg, Jonas; Gerndt, Andreas

doi:10.1109/aero53065.2022.9843488

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…In this paper, we presented and evaluated a novel approach for simulating eclipse shadows in real‐time using an existing open source simulation of our Solar System, CosmoScout VR [SZGG22]. The proposed method produces more realistic shadows than the state‐of‐the‐art while maintaining the same performance impact.…”

Section: Discussion and Future Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, we can use CosmoScout VR to re‐enact real eclipses and compare the results with photographs. CosmoScout VR is freely available under the MIT license [SFG].…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We implemented the proposed approach into CosmoScout VR, an interactive modular virtual Solar System for the exploration of large planetary datasets in conjunction with simulation data [SZGG22]. The software supports a variety of virtual reality devices, such as head-mounted displays, powerwalls, or CAVEs.…”

Section: Cosmoscout Vrmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Real‐Time Rendering of Eclipses without Incorporation of Atmospheric Effects

Schneegans

Gilg

Ahlers

et al. 2022

Computer Graphics Forum

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In this paper, we present a novel approach for real‐time rendering of soft eclipse shadows cast by spherical, atmosphereless bodies. While this problem may seem simple at first, it is complicated by several factors. First, the extreme scale differences and huge mutual distances of the involved celestial bodies cause rendering artifacts in practice. Second, the surface of the Sun does not emit light evenly in all directions (an effect which is known as limb darkening). This makes it impossible to model the Sun as a uniform spherical light source. Finally, our intended applications include real‐time rendering of solar eclipses in virtual reality, which require very high frame rates. As a solution to these problems, we precompute the amount of shadowing into an eclipse shadow map, which is parametrized so that it is independent of the position and size of the occluder. Hence, a single shadow map can be used for all spherical occluders in the Solar System. We assess the errors introduced by various simplifications and compare multiple approaches in terms of performance and precision. Last but not least, we compare our approaches to the state‐of‐the‐art and to reference images. The implementation has been published under the MIT license.

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Section: Discussion and Future Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, we can use CosmoScout VR to re‐enact real eclipses and compare the results with photographs. CosmoScout VR is freely available under the MIT license [SFG].…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Real‐Time Rendering of Eclipses without Incorporation of Atmospheric Effects

Schneegans

Gilg

Ahlers

et al. 2022

Computer Graphics Forum

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“…Our atmosphere renderer is implemented into CosmoScout VR [SZGG22], an open source 3D virtual solar system which is based on NASA's SPICE toolkit [Act96]. The source code of CosmoScout VR including the atmosphere renderer and Mie preprocessor is available online [SFG24].…”

Section: Atmospheric Rendering Using Mie Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Physically Based Real‐Time Rendering of Atmospheres using Mie Theory

Schneegans,

Meyran,

Ginkel

et al. 2024

Computer Graphics Forum

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Most real‐time rendering models for atmospheric effects have been designed and optimized for Earth's atmosphere. Some authors have proposed approaches for rendering other atmospheres, but these methods still use approximations that are only valid on Earth. For instance, the iconic blue glow of Martian sunsets can not be represented properly as the complex interference effects of light scattered at dust particles can not be captured by these approximations. In this paper, we present an approach for generalizing an existing model to make it capable of rendering extraterrestrial atmospheres. This is done by replacing the approximations with a physical model based on Mie Theory. We use the particle‐size distribution, the particle‐density distribution as well as the wavelength‐dependent refractive index of atmospheric particles as input. To demonstrate the feasibility of this idea, we extend the model by Bruneton et al. [BN08] and implement it into CosmoScout VR, an open‐source visualization of our Solar System. In a first step, we use Mie Theory to precompute the scattering behaviour of a particle mixture. Then, multi‐scattering is simulated, and finally the precomputation results are used for real‐time rendering. We demonstrate that this not only improves the visualization of the Martian atmosphere, but also creates more realistic results for our own atmosphere.

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“…As visualization frontend, we developed CosmoScout VR, an open source 3D solar system [11]. The software enables scientists to virtually navigate from planet to planet and explore time-dependent data across many magnitudes of scales.…”

Section: The Frontend: Cosmoscout Vrmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immersive and Interactive 3D Visualization of Large-Scale Geoscientific Data

Flatken,

Schneegans,

Fellegara

et al. 2024

PRESENCE: Virtual and Augmented Reality

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Virtual reality (VR) technology has great potential in supporting planetary scientists and the the field of geo-sciences by offering immersive and interactive experiences for data exploration and analysis. This paper shows the opportunities presented by the use of VR technology in the geo-sciences domain while also identifying the open challenges associated with this integration. Our focus is on highlighting the several benefits that VR brings, including stereo vision, head tracking, and collaborative capabilities. These features can foster knowledge exchange and interdisciplinary research. Nevertheless, the adoption of VR presents certain challenges that need to be addressed. These include maintaining high refresh rates, handling large heterogeneous datasets, and striking a balance between visualization fidelity and performance. Fortunately, significant advancements have been made in high-performance data analysis, progressive data streaming, and real-time visualization, enabling interactive exploration of large-scale datasets within VR environments. To support a broader adoption among domain experts, we propose a visualization approach that scales both with display and with data size. As such, the system can be used to interactively explore large-scale datasets in immersive environments like CAVEs or powerwalls, on head-mounted displays (HMDs), or on traditional desktop setups. This approach allows for seamless transitions between desktop and VR experiences, leveraging immersive environments for collaboration and outreach activities. In this paper, we present an architectural framework, hardware environments, use-cases, lessons learned, and the future potential of VR in this field. Through this scalable system, we anticipate transformative advancements in scientific exploration, collaboration, and knowledge dissemination.

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CosmoScout VR: A Modular 3D Solar System Based on SPICE

Cited by 7 publications

References 32 publications

Real‐Time Rendering of Eclipses without Incorporation of Atmospheric Effects

Real‐Time Rendering of Eclipses without Incorporation of Atmospheric Effects

Physically Based Real‐Time Rendering of Atmospheres using Mie Theory

Immersive and Interactive 3D Visualization of Large-Scale Geoscientific Data

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