NASA Data Lens

NASA Goddard Visitor Center

NASA Data Lens

A visitor uses a interactive display to see how water, life, and air intersect in a visually stimulating way.

Project Overview

The scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute gather and analyze millions of data points every day. We transformed their raw data into a mesmerizing experience for guests at their Visitor Center.

The Goddard Institute is NASA’s center for studying the Earth. Through the Data Lens interactive, visitors can see the world the way a NASA climatologist does: as complex, interwoven layers of biology working together to sustain our planet.

By manipulating three lenses—corresponding to the forces of life, air, and water—visitors can follow dust particles from the Sahara to the Amazon, observe waves of phytoplankton blooms, or watch the seasons change from space.

Project Videos and Images

Using a large display and detailed animation the exhibit allows users to merge lenses in order to see how two systems interact.

Users can merge lenses to see how two systems interact.

  • A user interacts with the lenses.
  • A user interacting with the touchscreen