Plasma simulation data through the hololens

Abstract

The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) demonstrates scientific visualization with Microsoft's Hololens [1]. In a mixed reality (MR) environment this tool allows the scientist to see their data geometry as a holographic image with the ability to freely walk around and view the model as if it were a free-floating object. We presented our first complete prototype at the SC17 conference [2] in Denver. This shows a looping animation representing 300 timesteps of data from a mirror machine magnetic confinement simulation, and includes a short narration voice-over. The data is a rotating cylinder of plasma density that gradually loses stability resulting in collapse. Physicist Wendell Horton, from the Institute for Fusion Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, uses TACC's Stampede2 supercomputer for his simulations investigating plasma turbulence as applied to research in nuclear fusion and Earth's ionosphere. Currently we're using ParaView [3] and Unity [4] software to build the visualization content and are experimenting with more elaborate plasma visualizations with planned additional projects.