FROM DATA TO POLLEN

With the program CIIIC: Creative Industries Immersive Impact Coalition, we aim to increase the capacity to realize immersive experiences, and empower the industry and its creators to capitalize on opportunities. But what are we really talking about? In this series, we dive into inspiring case studies.

How do you make complex data vivid and understandable to your target audience? This is one of the topics WANDER is working on. WANDER is a lab at Wageningen University & Research for advanced 3D visualizations and simulations. The hub aims to take science to the next level with immersive experiences around data.

This visualization is a Digital Twin. More and more fields are embracing digital twinning: the technique provides a digital version of reality, in which you can adjust variables to see what effect this has on the system. This is very broad and practically applicable: from testing products and concepts, to training actions in simulations. An immersive and interactive experience, without having to make physical prototypes or disrupt existing systems.

The visualization effect allows you to have a more informed conversation, for example with someone who needs to make policy based on this data.

The visualization maps how pollen spreads and how wind force and direction affect it. The amount of pollen and different species also become visible through color coding and heatmaps. "There is a lot of data available, but numbers do not immediately appeal to many people's imagination. A visualization does. The imaginative effect allows you to have a more informed conversation, for example with someone who has to make policy based on this data." said Thomas Ginn, team lead at WANDER.

According to developer Bart Knuiman (also from the WANDER team), the complexity of the data is still a challenge: "A Digital Twin provides insight into what is possible, but it does not allow you to predict the future directly. For example, visualizing wind in relation to turbulence is more complicated than it seems. The same goes for crowd simulations; that also involves psychology, for example, which is not a hard science." This begs the question; is accuracy the goal? Or is it about that that the Digital Twin displays data more insightfully? This may depend on the application.

I see a lot of motivation and willingness in the industry to share what has already been created, but because of a lack of overview, we often fail to find each other.

There is already a lot of literature on how to create an effective Digital Twin. The team has therefore made use of this. According to Thomas, collaboration is key, though. "Some are reinventing the wheel. It's still such a young field, so that's not crazy either, but it's still a waste of time and money. I see in the sector a lot of motivation and willingness to share what has already been created, but because of a lack of overview, it often fails to find each other. So at the organizational level there is a lot of room for improvement."

Source: https://wander.wur.nl/xr-projects/tree-pollen