vLUME - 3D virtual reality for single-molecule localization microscopy

Authors: Alexander Spark, Alexandre Kitching, Daniel Esteban-Ferrer, Anoushka Handa, Alexander R. Carr, Lisa-Maria Needham, Aleks Ponjavic, Ana Mafalda Santos, James McColl, Christophe Leterrier, Simon J. Davis, Ricardo Henriques, Steven F. Lee
Technologies: Nuclear-Pores as references, QuickPALM and vLume
Paper published in Nature Methods, October 2020
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group

The manuscript "vLUME: 3D virtual reality for single-molecule localization microscopy" by Spark et al. introduces vLUME, a virtual reality software package designed to render large three-dimensional single-molecule localization microscopy datasets. vLUME features include visualization, segmentation, analysis, and exporting features. It enables robust analysis of real three-dimensional biological samples that would otherwise be impossible using regular flat-screen visualization programs. The manuscript highlights the importance of 3D visualization approaches in the field of three-dimensional single-molecule localization microscopy, which has led to the development of over 36 software packages for quantitative evaluation. vLUME is specifically created for this purpose and accelerates the analysis of highly complex 3D point-cloud data and the rapid identification of defects. It is free for academic use and is compatible with all commercial gaming VR hardware.