  We report on an exploratory project aimed at performing immersive 3D
visualization of astronomical data, starting with spectral-line radio data
cubes from galaxies. This work is done as a collaboration between the
Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Computer Science at
the University of Manitoba. We are building our prototype using the 3D engine
Unity, because of its ease of use for integration with advanced displays such
as a CAVE environment, a zSpace tabletop, or virtual reality headsets. We
address general issues regarding 3D visualization, such as: load and convert
astronomy data, perform volume rendering on the GPU, and produce physically
meaningful visualizations using principles of visual literacy. We discuss some
challenges to be met when designing a user interface that allows us to take
advantage of this new way of exploring data. We hope to lay the foundations for
an innovative framework useful for all astronomers who use spectral line data
cubes, and encourage interested parties to join our efforts. This pilot project
addresses the challenges presented by frontier astronomy experiments, such as
the Square Kilometre Array and its precursors.
