Professor Steven A. Hauck, II teaches courses on the landscape and interior of the Earth and other solid bodies in our solar system from a geological perspective. He saw an opportunity to use mixed reality to build 3D thinking skills of geology students by appreciating details from a more "natural" perspective, such as walking around a digital environment to gather context and to change perspective. Extended reality could also allow for otherwise impossible field visits, as well, such as volcanoes on Hawaii or the surface of the planet Mercury. 

The app that Professor Hauck created during his fellowship (Planetary Toolbox) contains a growing set of modules including an immersive 3D visualization of the planets in our solar system (SolarSystem), a simulation of drill sampling to map a subterranean environment (DigSite), and a tool for turning 2D topographic maps into their respective 3D formats (Topography).