Kelly Gaither, Texas Advanced Computing Center
Matthew Vaughn, Texas Advanced Computing Center

This course will explore the new frontier of immersive, interactive scientific visualization. It is aimed at researchers who wish to design and implement innovative visualization tools to help address biological or biomedical research questions. As part of their research programs, course participants will ideally have a need to visualize genomic or systems biology data, anatomical structures and models, scientific simulations, and/or other domains that generate complex, multidimensional, and often very large data sets.

Through a combination of detailed lectures and intensive hands-on computing exercises led by course instructors, students will learn the principles of information and scientific visualization. However, rather than relying on simplified representations of complex data, students will learn these visualization principles within the newly emerging context of immersive augmented and virtual reality. They will work with tools such as Unity 3D and Blender, as well as scripting environments such as Bash and Python, to craft data visualizations using the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset and Leap Motion gesture sensor. Students will apply the concepts and techniques covered in class exercises to create an independent virtual reality data visualization project. Additionally, the hands-on training will be supplemented by guest lectures from some of the leading experts working in data visualization today.