On June 29, 2022, the GEO-day of TU Wien, which has been held annually since 2018, could finally take place on-site again. The Department of Geodesy and Geoinformation opened its doors to give students, alumni, and other interested visitors an insight into the world of satellite data, laser scanners, and virtual reality tools. Of course, VRVis, with its many years of expertise in the creation, visualization, and analysis of and interaction with 3D geodata, was also present.
At the VRVis booth titled "Geospatial Visual Computing", researchers from our Geospatial Visualization, Semantic Modeling and Acquisition Group presented three exemplary projects to show what visual computing has to offer regarding the representation, interpretation, and processing of spatial data. First, with the four-legged "star guest", the robot dog Convexo, the focus was on the VRVis research question of how laser scans autonomously carried out by robot dogs could literally put the construction site documentation of the future on new feet. In addition, another area of emphasis was on innovative visualization methods for a wide variety of geodata: With the help of VR goggles, visitors could immersively experience a point cloud, while the 3D viewer PRo3D, which was specially developed for planetary research, brought the surface of Mars onto the computer screen with millimeter precision - with 3D imagery directly from NASA's Mars rover Perseverance.
The interest and the crowds were strong at the GEO-day and showed once again: Communicating science and research is worthwhile for everyone involved.
Vienna, July 6, 2022