ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some of the potential benefits of using immersive visualization for science and engineering supported by several real-world examples. Scientific visualization is the transformation of complex scientific data into visual images through computer graphics and data processing algorithms. While the benefits of immersive virtual reality may be difficult to verify scientifically for science and engineering applications, the anecdotal discoveries made while using immersive virtual reality are suggestive of the utility. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is the US Department of Energy’s primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research. The NREL Insight Center combines state-of-the-art visualization and collaboration tools to promote knowledge discovery in experimental data, high-resolution microscopy, and large-scale simulation data. The efficiency of heating and cooling electric vehicles is an area of research at NREL, as these loads can have a significant impact on the driving range of an electric vehicle.
