VR used to analyse 3D data

The technology helps users navigate data by grabbing and interacting with it.

Lume, a VR technology startup, was chosen as part of Digital Catapult‘s Augmentor 2018 intake. Augmentor is a 10-week programme supporting early stage businesses developing innovative and commercially focused applications of AR and VR. The programme gives companies technical and business mentorship and access to state-of-the-art facilities. This culminates with the opportunity to pitch their ideas confidently at an exclusive investor showcase.

Lume has created VR platform Project Lume for scientific exploration and collaboration. Working with The Lee Lab at Cambridge University, the company is developing the multi-user VR software for scientists to better explore, manipulate and share their 3D point cloud data. When operational, users will be able to drag and drop any 3D data into VR. They can then view the datasets from a fresh perspective using the Vive controllers. The current prototype also offers a measuring tool, data selection and export and recording tools. It additionally has analytics and bug report, control over aesthetics such as brightness and point size, and the ability to load up to two million points from .csv format.

VR offers the opportunity to view age-old things in a different way. The technology is opening doors to helping to educate, inform and expand a person’s experiences. Its capabilities are a far cry from its native video game roots. From an educational perspective, a VR app has been built to assist learner drivers with boosting their confidence and road awareness. This style of application could prove priceless in environments where young people struggle to consume information required for exams via books, for example. Elsewhere, VR headset is also helping people battle motion sickness.

This innovation has also been featured in the report ‘The Future of Immersive Content’, which was inspired by recent research conducted by our partner Digital Catapult, the UK’s leading advanced digital technology innovation centre. Download the full report here.