CARLI Digital Collections Featured Image: Planetary-scale Data Rendering in Autostereoscopic Virtual Reality

Robert Kooima, a doctoral candidate in Computer Science at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory, was one of the finalists in the Image of Research competition with this photograph titled “Planetary-scale Data Rendering in Autostereoscopic Virtual Reality.”

In the accompanying text, Kooima explains how the image relates to his research: “First, the application is my planetary-scale data visualization tool displaying NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission elevation data with the Blue Marble Next Generation color map. … Second, the display in the image is the Electronic Visualization Laboratory’s Varrier autostereoscopic virtual reality environment. … My research in GPU-based techniques for parallax-barrier autostereo rendering enabled high-performance sub-pixel image interleaving, doubling the effective resolution of the display and allowing 20/30 visual acuity.”

The first annual interdisciplinary competition, sponsored by the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Graduate College and the University Library, was open to any student enrolled in a graduate or professional degree program at UIC for the Spring 2008 term. Students were invited to submit an image with aesthetic appeal that they created as part of their research.

Seventy-one students from a wide range of academic disciplines—including anthropology, architecture, bioengineering, biomedical visualization, computer science, and microbiology/immunization—submitted entries. A multi-disciplinary jury reviewed the submissions and selected 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners as well as three honorable mentions.

The Image of Research digital collection features the works created by the winners and finalists in the competition.

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