NASA Glenn Graphics and Visualization (GVIS) Lab Summer Projects
In the summer of 2025, I was an XR Development Intern at the GVIS Lab, and worked on several different projects to use various VR applications showcase new technologies being developed at Glenn Research Center.
High-Efficiency Megawatt Motor
My first assignment was to create an interactive VR application to be used for internal tours as well as public outreach events.
This application allows the user to explore the components of the HEMM in order to learn about its functionality. The app includes an animation of the motor's central magnet plunger moving back and forth accompanied by model color that corresponds to collected data that describes the intensity of magnetic flux at each point as the magnet moves.
I first implemented this project in Unity C# with MiddleVR for compatibility with GVIS's CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE). I then refitted a second version of the project with Meta XR's All-in-One VR SDK to be compatible with the Meta Quest headset.
Adaptive Icing Tunnel
My second project was to create an interactive VR application that serves as a digital twin of the AIT facility currently being constructed at NASA Glenn. This project will also be used for internal tours as well as public outreach events.
This application allows the user to explore the AIT test facility and interact with a semi-physically-based fluid simulator that demonstrates a cartoon version of ice accumulation on an airfoil test object. The final ice shape formed by they fluid simulator is an approximation of a real LEWICE ice accretion for the given angle of attack.
As with my first project, I first implemented this project in Unity C# with MiddleVR for the CAVE, and then I adapted the code Meta XR's All-in-One VR SDK to be compatible with the Meta Quest.
In addition to creating two interactive versions of this project, I also created a stereoscopic demo reel video that can be played on a loop in the CAVE during public outreach and internal events. To create this video, I added two offset cameras to my Unity scene, created several adjustable "waypoints" to serve as stops for the camera, and then and then implemented a coroutine to move the camera smoothly between waypoints, using Vector3.Lerp for positional transitions and Quaternion.Slerp for rotational transitions, with adjustable timing and pauses at each stop.