Professor Steven A. Hauck, II (Professor and Chair, Planetary Geodynamics) 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 exceptional use case for mixed reality (MR) to build 3-D thinking skills of geology students by appreciating details from a more "natural" perspective compared to 2-D, such as walking around a digital environment to gather context and to change perspective. MR would also allow for otherwise impossible field visits, such as volcanoes on Hawaii or the surface of the planet Mercury. 

The app that Professor Hauck created during his fellowship, Planetary Toolbox, is a growing set of modules including an immersive 3-D 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 2-D topographic maps into their respective 3-D formats ("Topography").