Development of AR/VR tools for interactive visualization of Low and Medium Earth Orbit satellites

The CEDAR community uses a variety of tools to understand the geospace environment. These tools include sensors on Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites for in-situ measurements (e.g., ion drift measurements) and signals of opportunity transmitted by Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites for remote sensing observations (e.g., total electron content). The use of satellites provides an opportunity for members of the community to connect with the public about topics of general interest, such as the proliferation of LEO satellites, or with students on more specialized topics that might be covered in the classroom, such as remote sensing using GNSS signals.

This has motivated us to create virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) tools for visualization of LEO and MEO satellites. These tools can assist with student engagement and understanding of the experimental tools used in the Upper Atmosphere Remote Sensing Lab (UARS Lab) of UTD’s Center for Space Sciences. Using the Unity game engine, we developed an application that can download and display real-time data for a large number of LEO/MEO objects. When loaded onto a VR headset (such as the Meta Quest 2), users can view and interact with a simulation of current satellite positions at their location. Similarly, the application can use AR (on a tablet, for example) to display an overlay of this information on the user’s surroundings.

Here, we will present and discuss the design and implementation of these VR/AR tools. We will also describe how the software was developed for different devices, including an Android tablet and Meta Quest 2 headset. Finally, we will demonstrate the tools and discuss potential applications.