Virtual Reality (VR) technology has been subject to a rapid democratization in recent years, driven in large by the entertainment industry, and epitomized by the emergence of consumer-grade, plug-and-play, room-scale VR devices. To explore the scientific potential of this technology for the field of observational astrophysics, we have created an experimental VR application: E0102-VR. The specific scientific goal of this application is to facilitate the characterization of the 3D structure of the oxygen-rich ejecta in the young supernova remnant 1E 0102.2-7219 in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Using E0102-VR, we measure the physical size of two large cavities in the system, including a (7.0 ± 0.5) pc-long funnel structure on the far-side of the remnant. The E0102-VR application, albeit experimental, demonstrates the benefits of using human depth perception for a rapid and accurate characterization of complex 3D structures. Given the implementation costs (time-wise) of a dedicated VR application like E0102-VR, we conclude that the future of VR for scientific purposes in astrophysics most likely resides in the development of a robust, generic application dedicated to the exploration and visualization of 3D observational datasets, akin to a “ds9-VR”.

近年来，虚拟现实（VR）技术一直受到快速民主化的推动，受到娱乐业的广泛推动，而消费级，即插即用，房间规模的VR设备的出现则使虚拟现实成为缩影。为了探索该技术在观测天体物理学领域的科学潜力，我们创建了一个实验VR应用程序：E0102-VR。此应用程序的特定科学目标是促进小麦哲伦星云中年轻的超新星遗迹1E 0102.2-7219中富氧喷射器的3D结构表征。使用E0102-VR，我们可以测量系统中两个大空腔的物理尺寸，包括在残留物远端的（7.0±0.5）pc长的漏斗结构。该E0102-VR该应用程序（尽管具有实验性）证明了使用人类深度感知技术对复杂3D结构进行快速准确的表征的好处。考虑到像E0102-VR这样的专用VR应用程序的实施成本（按时间计算），我们得出结论，用于天体物理学中的科学用途的VR的未来最有可能在于开发一个可靠的，通用的应用程序，以探索和可视化卫星。 3D观测数据集，类似于“ ds9-VR”。