Using Virtual and Augmented Reality for Planetary Surfaces Investigations — A Case Study on Mars and the Moon

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) coupled with 3D terrain reconstructions are increasingly used for science, education and out-reach applications. These techniques are becom-ing more widespread thanks to the release since 2016 of reliable, versatile and cost-effective hardware solutions accessible to the general public. In the field of planetol-ogy, VR and AR theoretically allow the possibility to simulate field trips to remote places that are otherwise inaccessible to humans. Using high-resolution imaging, coupled with spectral or morphological data gathered by robotic explorers (orbiters, landers, rovers), we can cre-ate integrated virtual environments that accurately rep-resent the surface of planetary bodies and allow visual-ization and characterization of different datasets. These virtual environments provide the possibility to navigate on a global scale using orbital data, and move down to the surface when in situ data are available to explore and analyze local outcrops. This is particularly useful in the cases of the Moon and Mars, where both extensive or-bital and in situ data are available.