FAIR sharing of molecular visualization experiences: from pictures in the cloud to collaborative virtual reality exploration in immersive 3D environments

Abstract

Motivated by the current Covid-19 pandemic that has spurred a substantial flow of structural data we describe how molecular visualization experiences can be used to make these datasets accessible to a broad audience. Using a variety of technology vectors related to the cloud, 3D- and virtual reality gear, we examine how to share curated visualizations of structural biology, modeling and/or bioinformatics datasets for interactive and collaborative exploration. We discuss F.A.I.R. as overarching principle for sharing such visualizations. We provide four initial example scenes related to recent Covid-19 structural data together with a ready-to-use (and share) implementation in the UnityMol software. SynopsisVisualization renders structural molecular data accessible to a broad audience. We describe an approach to share molecular visualization experiences based on FAIR principles. Our workflow is exemplified with recent Covid-19 related data.