Integrating Terrain Data into Virtual Reality Systems for Outer Space Exploration

Virtual reality applications are extensively used in the space exploration domain to support different tasks that vary from astronaut training to mission planning, to system design and engineering. A key role is played by the interactive visualization of scientifically-accurate data related to outer space elements, such as, among others, stars, galaxies and planets. In the current work, we propose a method for the 3D visualization of data related to terrain surfaces of different celestial bodies, and the integration of the terrain models into a space-exploration virtual reality application. In particular, we provide insights into the pipeline we used to import and process the terrain data, coming in the form of Digital Elevation Models, and the techniques to visualize and geo-reference them inside the application. The proposed methodology showed accuracy in the visual outcome of the reconstructed surfaces, as well as positive results in terms of software performance of the real-time application.