I am a Senior Lecturer and human-computer interaction researcher at the Australian Research Centre for Interactive and Virtual Environments (IVE) at The University of South Australia. I am co-director of the Wearable Computer Lab within IVE.
My research aim is to help people understand the world by revealing and communicating insights within the data all around us. Big data is pervasive and is driving decisions at an industry, policy, and societal level. I believe that Immersive Analytics—using immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality to display and interact with data—and Narrative Visualisation—using visualisation to reveal the stories within data—can help humanise this decision making and empower people.
“Visualisation is more than an end-product—it serves as the channel for a machine to communicate to a human, and the interface for a human to interact with a machine.”
Upon completing my PhD in 2011, I worked in the mobile games industry on titles that have been downloaded over 50 million times. In 2016 I returned to UniSA and was a key researcher on the Narrative Visualisation for Law Enforcement project with the Data to Decisions Cooperative Research Centre. This project won the South Australian Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) iAward for R&D Project of the Year and a merit at the national level. The technology has since been acquired by a commercial venture to take to market.
Projects
Immersive Analytics
Immersive analytics explores how we can use the affordances of immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality to explore data and gain new insights.
ImAxes – Immersive Multivariate Data Visualisation in Virtual Reality
Maxime Cordeil, Andrew Cunningham, et al.
Seminal work in immersive analytics, ImAxes is an immersive system for exploring multivariate data using fluid, modeless interaction. The basic interface element is an embodied data axis. The user can manipulate these axes like physical objects in the immersive environment and combine them into sophisticated visualisations.
VRPathways: Immersive Analytics for Metabolic Pathways
Alex Pepicelli, Adam Drogemuller, Andrew Cunningham
A collaboration with CSIRO, this project explores the use of immersive analytics to visualise large metabolic pathways. The tool enables users to import and analyze patient-specific protein data, visualise correlations through scatterplots, and pin key data points for insight.
CADET: Collaborative Agile Data Exploration Toolkit
Jeremy McDade, Adam Drogemuller, Andrew Cunningham
Best Demo ISMAR 2023
CADET is a collaborative toolkit system for immersive data analytics and sense making. Users are able to visualize and explore data collaboratively with local users and remote users across the world to produce a shared understanding. The underlying collaborative interaction and avatar framework built on Photon is available open source from our GitHub!
LogAR: Situated Analytics for Drill Core Logging
Jeremy McDade, Adam Drogemuller, Andrew Cunningham
Commercialised by CSIRO
Drill core logging is dominated by traditional practices such as pen and paper logs and cumbersome spreadsheets. Critical contextual information is often buried in databases and printouts that are rarely referred to. LogAR is a prototype multi-platform application that enables borehole logs and supporting datasets to be seamlessly created and visualised in-situ using augmented reality. Our aim is to improve logging efficiency and accuracy by going beyond simply observational insights to using all available borehole datasets to inform decision-making.
Immersive Digital Twins
MillSkillsVR
Jack Fraser, Tom Raimondo, Andrew Cunningham
A project with the Green Triangle Forests Industries Hub based in Mount Gambier, this project examined where virtual reality training may be beneficial to training safety skills in mills.
RoXplorer Digital Twin
Jack Fraser, Andrew Cunningham, Tom Raimondo
Novel machinery requires training, however, access can be limited due to the small production numbers. This project investigated bringing in a one-to-one accurate CAD model, down to individual bolts, of a novel drill rig developed at the MinEx CRC for training.
Games Projects
I still maintain a keen interest in game design, teaching the Game Design course and supervising student projects. My interest is in the design of novel game mechanics.
SubsonicStrike — Asymmetric Augmented Reality Game
Shaun Jackson, Andrew Cunningham
A summer internship project. This game uses the TiltFive to provide two players asymmetric information in the same space. One player (the ship), trying to find the other player (the submarine) who is attempting to evade detection and reach hidden goal.
UnityForge — Asymmetric Coop Tower Defence with Hybrid Displays (VR/Touchscreen)
Shaun Jackson, Adrian Brown, Andrew Cunningham
A final year project. It’s a two-player coop tower defence where one player is in VR on the ground fighting hordes of goblins, while the other player is on a touchscreen planning from a bird-eye-view. The result is a frantic game with lots of communication.