Immersive Virtual Reality for Exploring Chaotic Systems: A Framework for Dynamic Attractor Visualization

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Abstract Understanding chaotic systems demands advanced visualization techniques beyond traditional 2D or 3D plots. This study introduces a virtual reality (VR)-based framework, implemented in Unity3D and deployed on the Meta Quest2 headset, for the intuitive and immersive exploration of nonlinear dynamical systems and strange attractors. Our system allows real-time interaction, manipulation, and observation of complex trajectories. We focus on two case studies: the discrete Lorenz attractor and bifurcation behavior in a three-dimensional quadratic map and the discrete Hindmarsh-Rose neuron model. These examples reveal phenomena such as torus doubling and successive length doublings. Geometric metrics, including curve length calculations, quantify dynamic changes. Our findings suggest that immersive environments significantly enhance the comprehension of chaotic behavior, offering both a research tool and an engaging educational medium. The Unity project and implementation details are publicly available at our GitHub repository: https://github. com/rnldtvm/Immersive_Chaos. Readers can clone the repository us- ing the command git clone https://github.com/rnldtvm/Immersive_ Chaos.git.
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Immersive Virtual Reality for Exploring Chaotic Systems: A Framework for Dynamic Attractor Visualization | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Immersive Virtual Reality for Exploring Chaotic Systems: A Framework for Dynamic Attractor Visualization Merin Plackal, Abhishek Kaushik, Sishu Shankar Muni This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7210820/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Understanding chaotic systems demands advanced visualization techniques beyond traditional 2D or 3D plots. This study introduces a virtual reality (VR)-based framework, implemented in Unity3D and deployed on the Meta Quest2 headset, for the intuitive and immersive exploration of nonlinear dynamical systems and strange attractors. Our system allows real-time interaction, manipulation, and observation of complex trajectories. We focus on two case studies: the discrete Lorenz attractor and bifurcation behavior in a three-dimensional quadratic map and the discrete Hindmarsh-Rose neuron model. These examples reveal phenomena such as torus doubling and successive length doublings. Geometric metrics, including curve length calculations, quantify dynamic changes. Our findings suggest that immersive environments significantly enhance the comprehension of chaotic behavior, offering both a research tool and an engaging educational medium. The Unity project and implementation details are publicly available at our GitHub repository: https://github. com/rnldtvm/Immersive_Chaos. Readers can clone the repository us- ing the command git clone https://github.com/rnldtvm/Immersive_ Chaos.git. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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