1 of 10

Visualizing Ecological LiDAR Data in VR and YURTs

Ross Briden

CSCI 1951T

4 of 10

Motivation

Understanding ecology data via VR and YURT visualization.
Lots of .las files, objective is to combine and visualize these files to form a cohesive experience.

Deliverables / Contributions

A VR visualization of LiDAR ecology data using the HTC Vive and tutorials to accompany this process.
Comparisons of Paraview, Lidarview, and MinVR for visualizing and rendering LiDAR data.
Scripts / tutorials on composing .las files arbitrarily and based on GPS time.
Tutorials and comparison of various LiDAR processing libraries (i.e. laspy, PDAL, Pylidar)
A YURT visualization of composed LiDAR data.

Milestones

2/12/2019, Research Kellner Lab.
2/14/2019, Convert LAS files to readable format for DinoYURT.
2/21/2019, Finalize data conversion process, if necessary, and begin YURT Visualization of the first three LiDAR models.
2/26/2019, Finish YURT visualization for first three LiDAR models.
2/28/2019, Download and visualize a new batch of LiDAR ecology models (at least N=5).

6. 3/5/2019, Visualize all of the previous LiDAR models in VR (HTC Vive).

7. 3/7/2019, Create a tutorial for visualizing .out files in the YURT using MinVR.

8. 3/12/2019, Create a composite LiDAR model, composed of three separate .las files, and visualize it in the YURT.

9. 3/14/2019, Create a tutorial on composing/stitching .las files and visualizing the results using Paraview / MinVR

10. 3/19/2019, Create a script for composing N .las files based on GPS time.

11. 3/21/2019, Compose N > 10 .las files and visualize the results in the YURT.

12. 4/2/2019, Publish in-depth comparison between MinVR and Paraview for rendering and visualizing LiDAR data in the YURT .

First Milestone Progress

Finalize data conversion process, if necessary, and begin YURT Visualization of the first three LiDAR models.