With the advent of ever-sophisticated facilities and advanced technological capabilities, data complexity, data storage and data visualisation present the scientific community - in every field - with new challenges. To support the astronomical community and in preparation for the SKA era, the Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (IDIA) Visualisation Lab (https://vislab.idia.ac.za) is thus exploring new approaches to handle the exploration and detailed interrogation of big multi-parametric datasets, exploiting both cloud-based computing and immersive technologies. In my talk, I will introduce the IDIA software suite iDaVIE (immersive Data Visualisation Interactive Explorer - https://idavie.readthedocs.io/). iDaVIE combines virtual reality (VR) technology and custom-built software to work with multi-parametric particle and volumetric datasets, enabling user interaction and immersive exploration of 3D data. Originally developed to serve the astronomical community, the software can be easily adapted to ingest non-astronomical datasets, and it thus represents a resource for the entire scientific community. In my talk, I will present the software, some of the discoveries it has already enabled and the possible multi-disciplinary applications we are currently exploring for further development.

About Lucia Marchetti

Dr Lucia Marchetti is a Senior Lecturer in Astronomy at the University of Cape Town and Director of the UCT/IDIA Visualisation Lab. She holds a Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of Padua, Italy. Her research focuses on multi-wavelength galaxy formation and evolution, strong gravitational lensing and big data visualisation (exploiting both planetaria and VR technology). She is an active member of several international collaborations within Euclid, 4MOST and MeerKAT surveys. She is one of the SA PIs for the Vera Rubin project and the SA coordinator for the medium shallow L-band survey with MeerKAT+. A dedicated science communicator, she coordinates Soapbox Science South Africa. She is the secretary of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Division J – Galaxies and Cosmology Steering Committee, a member of the South African Institute of Physics (SAIP), and of the African Astronomical Society (AfAS).