Inside the Ice Shelf: Zoom Antarctica | Polar Geophysics Group

Peek inside the Ross Ice Shelf using Augmented Reality

Inside The Ice Shelf: Demo Video

About

Zoom Antarctica is an Augmented Reality (AR) application that was developed for the Microsoft HoloLens1 in 2016. The application combined LiDAR, ice-penetrating radar, and topographical digital elevation models (DEMs) of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. Using the ROSETTA-Ice Project radar dataset as a foundation, Inside the Ice Shelf: Zoom Antarctica gave the user a unique look into the interior of an ice shelf roughly the size of France. The surface and bedrock topographical DEMs provide a contextual framework for looking at the ROSETTA radar imagery in geospatial context. Ice-penetrating radargrams visualize cross-sections of the ice like slices of cake: imaging the top, bottom, and layers in between. Putting these images together as they would be in real life, allows for a different perspective from the usual method of analyzing radargrams.

Development

The application, developed by Martin Pratt, successfully integrated: Ross Ice Shelf surface and bedrock DEMs; CSVs of the ROSETTA-Ice Completed Survey Grid, color-coded by LiDAR and Radar data availability; projected coordinate bounding box, in EPSG-3031; cross-section of ROSETTA-Ice Shallow Ice Radar (SIR) imagery in correct geospatial context; swath of ROSETTA-Ice LiDAR imagery, togged on/off by selecting a surface feature in the radar imagery; interactive menu with options, including a vertical exaggeration slider; and voice commands. The amount of effort and work that went into successfully completing and deploying this application was exceptional, and worthwhile.

Inside the Ice Shelf: Zoom Antarctica was specifically designed for the HoloLens for a number of reasons. AR allows the user to remain in their familiar environment which reduces nausea, eyestrain, and disorientation; which are occasionally reported by users of VR. This also could allow a scientist to view data while generating analyses on a separate device (i.e. a desktop computer) without needing to remove the headset. Gesture and voice command integration allow the user to remain seated or still while still experiencing the immersive benefits of the application. Ultimately, when deployed, Inside the Ice Shelf was an effective application for science communication about the Ross Ice Shelf and ROSETTA-Ice dataset.

Limitations

The HoloLens1 and Inside the Ice Shelf application were not without their limitations. The HoloLens1 battery life, internal storage capacity, RAM capacity, eye tracking, and lens size were difficult hurdles to overcome. The ROSETTA-Ice Project flew nearly 55,000 survey line kilometers of radar data, which is an overwhelming amount of data. Additionally, the radar image files were extremely large and not surface corrected. This meant a limited amount of radar images could go into the application in order to reduce lag and crashing. Also, each radar image needed to be manually adjusted so the visible surface in the image aligned with the surface DEM. These issues rendered the application, unfortunately, unusable for scientific analysis, unless resolved.

Conclusion

Inside the Ice Shelf: Zoom Antarctica remains a triumphant attempt at generating a geospatially correct, data visualization application. It went on to inspire future projects for this group.