Interactive 3D Storytelling for Planetary Exploration

Information

• Publication Type: Master Thesis
• Workgroup(s)/Project(s):
  • Visualization Group
• Date: May 2020
• Date (Start): September 2019
• Date (End): 4. May 2020
• Diploma Examination: June 2020
• Open Access: yes
• First Supervisor: Eduard Gröller

Abstract

The Planetary Robotics 3D Viewer (PRo3D) is an interactive visualization tool thatallows for geological analyses of planetary surfaces. The primary goal is to supportgeologists at NASA and ESA in their mission to find signs of life on Mars by enablingthem to perform analyses on a high-resolution 3D surface model. While PRo3D facilitatesan exploratory workflow to gain new insights, there is a lack of support to communicatenew findings. In this thesis, we discuss the design and implementation of storytellingmechanisms into PRo3D that allow for an easy, fast, and interactive communicationof results. Moreover, we show how provenance information can be incorporated intostories, enabling geoscientists to present how they arrived at a certain discovery orinterpretation. Provenance includes the individual steps in the analysis process thatlead to a given finding, supporting its verification and reproducibility. We present abroad overview about storytelling and provenance in visualization, and discuss the designspace of a provenance-based storytelling approach in the context of geological analysesas conducted in PRo3D. Finally, we present a prototype as a proof of concept based onthese deliberations.

Additional Files and Images

Weblinks

• Entry in reposiTUm (TU Wien Publication Database)

BibTeX

@mastersthesis{Mautner 2020,
  title =      "Interactive 3D Storytelling for Planetary Exploration",
  author =     "Martin Mautner",
  year =       "2020",
  abstract =   "The Planetary Robotics 3D Viewer (PRo3D) is an interactive
               visualization tool thatallows for geological analyses of
               planetary surfaces. The primary goal is to supportgeologists
               at NASA and ESA in their mission to find signs of life on
               Mars by enablingthem to perform analyses on a
               high-resolution 3D surface model. While PRo3D facilitatesan
               exploratory workflow to gain new insights, there is a lack
               of support to communicatenew findings. In this thesis, we
               discuss the design and implementation of
               storytellingmechanisms into PRo3D that allow for an easy,
               fast, and interactive communicationof results. Moreover, we
               show how provenance information can be incorporated
               intostories, enabling geoscientists to present how they
               arrived at a certain discovery orinterpretation. Provenance
               includes the individual steps in the analysis process
               thatlead to a given finding, supporting its verification and
               reproducibility. We present abroad overview about
               storytelling and provenance in visualization, and discuss
               the designspace of a provenance-based storytelling approach
               in the context of geological analysesas conducted in PRo3D.
               Finally, we present a prototype as a proof of concept based
               onthese deliberations.",
  month =      may,
  address =    "Favoritenstrasse 9-11/E193-02, A-1040 Vienna, Austria",
  school =     "Research Unit of Computer Graphics, Institute of Visual
               Computing and Human-Centered Technology, Faculty of
               Informatics, TU Wien",
  URL =        "https://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/research/publications/2020/Mautner
               2020/",
}