Publications

Abstract

3D visualizations of Mars enable the remote exploration of the Martian surface in great detail and play an essential role in planetary science, mission planning, and the com- munication of scientific findings. Due to the unfamiliar environment depicted in these visualizations, conveying a sense of scale is necessary. In this paper, we character- ize the problem space of conveying scale in 3D visualiza- tions of Mars projected onto a 2D screen and design rep- resentations that satisfy the requirements of specific use- cases. We discuss challenges posed by different types of scale, magnitudes of scale, and levels of expertise. The designed representations include scale-bars, scale-boxes, known-object-comparison, true-layer-thickness, contour- lines, vertical exaggeration, and distance shading. We re- ceived informal feedback for each representation from a planetary scientist. The feedback suggests that our repre- sentations are capable of conveying a sense of scale in 3D visualizations of Mars for their use-cases.