JMARS Augmented and Virtual Reality Experiences for Planetary Research, Education, and Collaboration

Mixed reality experiences offer the ability to see and use existing rich data sets in new ways. We are building augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) visualization and analysis tools that pair with the JMARS application developed at Arizona State University's Mars Space Flight Facility. JMARS is a free geospatial information system that provides access to planetary data and mission-planning tools for Mars, the Moon, asteroids, and more. Data types available include mosaics, footprints and stamps of individual images, and annotations. In the desktop version, any data set can be mapped to elevation data in a 3D layer, viewed in a separate window. In previous work, we exported the 3D layer to AR to allow users to view these terrains floating in their real-world environment by using their smartphones.

In this work we configured JMARS to be viewed in VR headsets, which fully immerse the user within the data. The user is positioned above the terrain and navigates as if flying over the surface. Users can log in to their JMARS accounts (created separately) to access their own uploaded data, save terrains and sessions for personal use, and output recorded content. Their saved terrains can be accessed in the AR or desktop application. We are now building a "multi-player" mode, i.e. capabilities to allow multiple users (whether in the same physical space or remote) to experience a single JMARS terrain together. We are adding annotation and analysis tools within this space. We plan to create a "playback mode" in which expert users can build content experiences that can be saved and viewed by later viewers. This will allow opportunities for collaboration between scientists and for storytelling in education and outreach.

JMARS includes a large number of co-registered datasets already available in the software - thousands of global maps and millions of individual instrument observations - plus the ability for individual users or teams to add their own data. Users can easily toggle each layer's order or transparency to identify relationships between datasets. Our JMARS VR project unites a powerful existing set of tools with state-of-the-art head mounted display technology. This work has potential both to enable new insights from the immersive 3D format and to enhance collaboration and teaching by improving communication between parties.