Virtual worlds can be used for two main type of visualisation: Structure and Data
| Visualising Structures |  |
Here we use the 3D space to create virtual copies of existing or proposed real-world structures. This could in theory be anything from natural forms (eg large versions of body organs) and fabricated objects (eg new machine parts or consumer goods) to complete buildings and even complete cities.
It is in these latter areas of building visualisation that we have seen the most interest so far. Early in Second Life history there were examples of campaigners using SL to visualise proposed new developments, and we now know of several cities and several technologies embarking on whole city visualisation projects (eg Twinity for Berlin and London). And of course there is always 3D modelling in Google Earth.
For us the really interesting aspect is how a virtual world like Second Life provides not only a 3D visualisation but also a social and immersive space. This is where virtual worlds offer a different solution to existing 3D fly-throughs and the like. With a fly-through you are normally stuck with a pre-rendered path, and even with interactive systems you have an objective view of the development from some disembodied point, and you can't share the experience, or actually use the space. With virtual worlds you get:
- An avatar in the space which lets you experience the build in a very subjective way
- A space which you can move around at will - and meet other people and share thoughts and ideas
- The ability to annotate the space with what you like and don't like, and comment on or vote for other people's comments, and choose between design options
- The ability to interact with the space - use the lifts and escalators, use information points
- The ability to actually use the space - either to fine tune design decisions, or to hold pre-launch events and familiarisation days, and to make it a living spce before the real build is even finished.
| Visualising Data |  |
Virtual Worlds also have no diffiiculty in making data seem "real". Several virtual worlds support the ability to bring data in from the web and the real world - either as batch files or live data from web services feeds. This data coudl be real-time or historical and represent absolutely anything. We can then plot the data again historically or in real-time in a number of different ways:
- Literally, so the data points look like the real data subject - for instance our system which tracks aircraft appoaching LAX and plots the data as aircraft models over a map of southern califormia, or our star plotter which plots astronomical objects in a 3D planetarium
- Figuratively, as conventional 2D or 3D graphs, but with the added ability to make the points themselves vary in size/colour/shape
- Analagously - for instance plotting stock market data as a virtual forest, or our Twitter fountain which visualises Twitter posts as bubbles of thoughts
- Abstractly - anything else
As with visualising structures there are already PC applications that ley you do many of these sorts of visualisations, but by doing them in the virtual world:
- You experience the data in a very subjective way and from your avatars viewpoint - making it easier to appreciate trends and outliers - walking inside the data lets your experience it in a very visceral way and can lead to new insights
- You can share the visualisations with other people at the same time from anywhere in the world - and you can discuss the data whilst still "inside" it
- You can use just one system/virtual world to visualise to visualise widely varying data types - obviating the need to buy and learn different packages for different types of data
Next Steps
If you think that virtual worlds could help you better visualise your new build or your data then we'd be more than happy to come and present to you to give you a better understanding of what this technology can offer now, and where it might be going in the future. Please give us a call.
Why don't you:
- Watch a video of real-time aircraft tracking data in Second Life (You Tube)
- Watch a video of Google Maps a 3D city models in Second Life (You Tube)
- Read about our work with Birmingham City Council on using Google Maps in Second Life to visualise city data and new development projects
- Download our Integrate flyer (1MB PDF)
