Background
The Challenge
As a way to extend the efforts of their in-house innovation team, InVision Communications (IVC), an audience engagement company focusing on digital strategy and large-scale events, asked the EMC to explore data visualization in a “metaverse-inspired” world.
The Solution
The team set out to create a flexible, interactive and collaborative 3D visualizations in XR (extended reality) out of multidimensional data.
By leveraging a game engine to produce a series of data visualization concepts and prototypes, the team is pushing the boundaries of existing methods. In these AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) prototypes (working title: VizBoXR), users can represent, interact, and manipulate data in unique, novel, and intuitive ways in 3D space.
The Team
Evan Koppers – Lead Programmer
Lucia Hughes – Network Programmer
Harper Bennett – Junior Programmer and Documentation
Leah Peterson – Technical Artist (Summer)
Henry Foley – Technical Artist (Fall)
Dana Steinhoff – Project Manager
Jane Adams – Doctoral Fellow
Takeaways
This was an excellent learning experience for both XR development and multidisciplinary teamwork. It was also my first foray into software development, as all of my previous experience was only within the context of games.
It also gave me the opportunity to learn more about Data Visualization, Unity, OpenXR, and C#.
Credits
All information and images discussed/shown were done so with the permission of both InVision Communications and the Emergent Media Center at Champlain College. Both parties have granted me permission to share more details about the project in private if requested.