CellexalVR: A virtual reality platform for the exploration and analysis of single-cell gene expression data

Single-cell RNAseq is a powerful tool for the dissection of cell populations at the transcriptome level, and a myriad of techniques are available to project cells on to 3-dimensional space to construct cellular maps that aid the visualisation of heterogeneity and any sub-populations formed. Current visualisation methods for 3-dimensional data on conventional computer displays are poor, and coupled with a lack of intuitive point/cell selection methods often hinders a rapid exploration of finer details contained in the data. Here we present CellexalVR (www.cellexalvr.med.lu.se), a feature-rich, fully interactive, and immersive virtual reality environment for the analysis of single-cell RNAseq experiments that allows researchers to quickly and intuitively gain an understanding of their data.