Cape Town, South Africa – October 1, 2024
The Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (IDIA) and the Department of Astronomy at the University of Cape Town (UCT) are proud to announce the first public release of the innovative iDaVIE software by the IDIA Visualisation Lab (IDIA Vislab). This milestone marks a significant advancement in astronomy data visualisation and analysis, offering researchers a powerful tool to enhance their work using Virtual Reality.
iDaVIE, which stands for immersive Data Visualisation Interactive Explorer, has been developed by the IDIA Vislab in collaboration with the Astrophysical Observatory of Catania of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF-OACT). It is designed to facilitate the visualisation and interrogatioia of complex astronomical and multidisciplinary datasets, exploiting the unique capabilities of Virtual Reality. The software is particularly beneficial for the astronomy community, enabling the analysis in unprecedented detail of 3D data cubes and catalogues like those produced by MeerKAT and, eventually, the SKA.
Key Features of iDaVIE include:
• Interactive and Immersive Visualisation: Allows users to use easily accessible commercial VR headsets to immerse themselves in the data and interact with the data in real-time, providing a more intuitive understanding of complex datasets.
• Scalability: Capable of handling different types of data input, making it suitable for a wide range of scientific research beyond astronomy, e.g. engineering and medical/biology research (see some multi-disciplinary examples reported here).
• Open Source: The release of the source code encourages collaboration and further development by the global research community.
Dr Lucia Marchetti, Director of the IDIA Vislab, expressed her excitement about the release: “We are thrilled to make iDaVIE available to the public. This software represents years of hard work, and we believe it will be a valuable resource for researchers around the world as already proven by the many publications that have used iDaVIE while still under development.”
Prof Patrick Woudt, Interim Director of IDIA, adds: “iDaVIE aligns with IDIA’s commitment to advancing Data-intensive Research and fostering innovation in South Africa. We are very happy to release this to the community and we look forward to the next developments that will follow. ”
By making the software and its source code freely available, UCT and the IDIA Vislab aim to support the global research community and encourage the development of new tools and techniques in data visualisation, while hoping to foster new global collaborations in this field.
As a final remark, Dr Lucia Marchetti also shares a message honouring her predecessor and IDIA Vislab founding director, Prof Tom Jarrett, who suddenly passed away in July: “The entire IDIA Vislab team and I would like to dedicate this first public release to our late director, mentor and friend Tom, who sadly passed away too soon, before this important milestone that he initiated and to which he contributed for many years. He would have cherished this release with us today”.
For more information about iDaVIE and to access the software and source code, please visit the iDaVIE documentation online.
Contact:
Dr Lucia Marchetti
Senior Lecturer, UCT Department of Astronomy
Director of the IDIA Vislab
University of Cape Town
Email: lucia.marchetti@uct.ac.za
Phone: +27 0713905116
Images:
