An interactive, comparative and quantitative 3D visualization system for large-scale spectral-cube surveys using CAVE2

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel interactive 3D visualization system for large-scale spectral-cube surveys using the CAVE2 environment, enabling simultaneous comparison, real-time data manipulation, and quantitative analysis to enhance astronomical research efficiency.

Contribution

The paper presents a new immersive visualization system that allows simultaneous comparison and analysis of multiple spectral-cubes in a large-scale 3D environment, with a web-based control interface.

Findings

Enables visualization of ~100 spectral-cubes simultaneously

Allows real-time transformations and quantitative data access

Accelerates discovery in spectral-cube research scenarios

Abstract

As the quantity and resolution of spectral-cubes from optical/infrared and radio surveys increase, desktop-based visualization and analysis solutions must adapt and evolve. Novel immersive 3D environments such as the CAVE2 at Monash University can overcome personal computer's visualization limitations. CAVE2 is part advanced 2D/3D visualization space (80 stereo-capable screens providing a total of 84 million pixels) and part supercomputer ($\sim100$ TFLOPS of integrated GPU-based processing power). We present a novel visualization system enabling simultaneous 3D comparative visualization of $\sim100$ spectral-cubes. With CAVE2 augmented by our newly developed web-based controller interface, astronomers can easily organise spectral-cubes on the different display panels, apply real-time transforms to one or many spectral cubes, and request quantitative information about the displayed data. We also discuss how such a solution can help accelerate the discovery rate in varied research scenarios.