Beyond What is Visible: Enhancing Air Quality Awareness through Immersive Virtual Reality Visualizations

Abstract

The levels of air quality found in some cities are a growing concern for environmental, healthcare, and government organizations worldwide due to the rise of environmental pollution. Thus, novel solutions for raising population awareness are of paramount importance. This work describes a platform for visualizing air quality data using Virtual Reality (VR), allowing having an aerial view of a given location, enhanced with air quality layers with the goal of helping raise awareness during education classes, fairs, or events. Using distinct visualization techniques, users can navigate through a map, position themselves in different points of view, and contemplate how air pollution is hiding from their view in the physical world, as well as filter using several parameters, e.g., removing roads, buildings, or displaying only a specific data range for a given period in time.