Ron Proctor · Immersive Media, Scientific Visualization & Interactive Design
My professional work connects scientific data, visualization, technology and human curiosity—making complex ideas clear, memorable and immersive.
Professional reel · selections from 2025–2026
portfolio · selected work
A few projects created as part of my employment at NSF NOIRLab. These are presented to document my professional contributions. Their inclusion does not imply endorsement of Proctor Creative or this website by NSF NOIRLab, NSF or AURA.
Scientific data visualization · 2026
A visual interpretation of DESI’s completed five-year survey, which mapped more than 47 million galaxies and quasars. The image transforms an immense three-dimensional dataset into a legible view of cosmic structure.
My contributions: data visualization, image creation and motion graphics.
Read the official DESI release (opens in a new tab)
3D astronomical visualization · 2026
A model of the inner Solar System showing over 11,000 asteroids discovered by Rubin Observatory during its early optimization surveys. Newly discovered objects glow in light teal while previously known asteroids form the dark-blue background population.
My contributions: data visualization, image creation and motion graphics.
Read the official Rubin Observatory release (opens in a new tab)
Fulldome planetarium film · 2025
A full-length planetarium show about the new era of time-domain and multi-messenger astronomy—and how observatories such as Gemini and Rubin work together to reveal a changing Universe.
My contributions: producer and visualization artist.
Explore the official show page and free downloads (opens in a new tab)Independent Project · 2026
I have always been fascinated by computational displays and video game design. I am especially drawn to how these technologies combine art, science, and storytelling to transform complex ideas into experiences that people can explore and understand intuitively.
Orbital tactics · browser game
An orbital tactics game adapted from a traditional pencil-and-paper folk game. Players command ships, lasers and torpedoes through a persistent Newtonian battlefield while a deterministic CPU opponent plans with the same information and rules.
My role: concept and creative direction, game design, rules, interaction design, art direction, accessibility, playtesting, systems evaluation and release decisions.
How AI contributed: OpenAI Codex served as an implementation collaborator for code generation, refactoring, debugging and test support. I directed the work, evaluated every build through play and made the game design and balance decisions.
Scientific simulation · NVIDIA Omniverse
An interactive visualization of a simulated Vera C. Rubin Observatory observing sequence. An articulated telescope model slews between scheduled targets while color-coded survey footprints accumulate and move with the celestial sky.
The project combines OpenUSD, NVIDIA Omniverse Kit, Rubin Scheduler, Astropy and Blender. Telescope motion is driven by simulated altitude and azimuth data, while celestial coordinates and local sidereal time keep previously observed fields synchronized with the rotating sky.
My role: concept, scientific visualization, Blender asset preparation, OpenUSD scene design, Python development, coordinate-system integration, interaction design and technical presentation.
How AI contributed: OpenAI ChatGPT served as an Omniverse instructor, coding collaborator and debugging assistant during development. I directed the project, evaluated the implementation and made the scientific visualization and design decisions.
This is an independent portfolio project using simulated survey data. It is not an official publication, product or communication of NSF NOIRLab, AURA or Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
Scientific simulation · NVIDIA Omniverse
A real-time scientific orrery built in NVIDIA Omniverse, using NASA/JPL SPICE data for the planets and Minor Planet Center orbital elements for asteroids. The project uses NVIDIA Warp and Fabric to propagate and render hundreds of thousands of asteroids on the GPU while remaining interactive.
The visualization is built in a J2000 reference frame and includes planetary orbit guides, time controls, labels, adjustable marker sizes and a NASA star-map background. In its current form, it can animate roughly 500,000 asteroids in real time on an RTX 5090, with support for displaying the full catalog.
My role: concept, scientific visualization, interaction design, technical direction, GPU pipeline development and testing.
How AI contributed: OpenAI ChatGPT assisted with code generation, debugging, refactoring, test development and documentation throughout the project, while I directed the architecture, validated the scientific behavior and made the design and implementation decisions.
About
I’m Ron Proctor, an immersive-media producer and scientific visualization specialist with more than twenty years of experience in planetariums and scientific visualization.
My work bridges raw scientific data and audience-ready experiences. I combine motion design, 3D visualization and collaborative storytelling to make difficult concepts clear, memorable and emotionally resonant—without sacrificing scientific integrity.
I have created work for fulldome theaters, virtual reality, Science On a Sphere and museum exhibits, and I've been teaching Blender since 2008.
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This is Ron Proctor’s independent professional portfolio. It is not an official website of NSF NOIRLab, the U.S. National Science Foundation or AURA. References to these organizations identify the employment context in which featured work was created and provide appropriate attribution; they do not imply sponsorship or endorsement of Proctor Creative or this website. The views expressed here are my own and do not represent NSF NOIRLab, NSF or AURA.
