Fieldwork is a core activity in the geosciences. Immersive technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), allow for embodied experiences while not physically present at a field site or creating experiences not possible in physical reality. Immersive VR (iVR) can deliver remote and large-scale geological entities to the laboratory, allowing geoscientists to apply real-world skills and methods to explore and interact with 3D geological models. In this project, we developed an iVR workbench and experiences for different geographic locations such as Iceland’s Thrihnukar volcano (Figure 1-4) and the Liwu River in Taroko National Park (Tiansheng; Figure 5-6). We combined various data sources such as satellite imagery with terrain elevation data to create a basic reconstruction of the real world. Terrain elevation terrestrial LiDAR data is used to provide a point cloud model of the entire geologic system and provides intensity values for the highlighting of rock types, while Structure from Motion (SfM) mapping is employed to construct photorealistic point clouds of the sites. To reproduce fieldwork activities, this project digs deeply into the scientific workflows of geosciences research, evaluates the priorities of the major phases of geosciences fieldwork, and develops a prototype of a universal immersive workbench for direct manipulation, information retrieval, geometric measurement, and the integration of multimedia resources. This workbench offers analytic functions currently not available in the field and is expected to help making fieldwork experiences accessible, shareable, and available any time. Future developments will also allow for collaborating remotely as well as creating repositories for promoting comparative studies.
Figure 1: Thrihnukar experience in the HTC Vive. The user wear Head Mounted Display (HMD) for visual interactions and hold two hand controllers to directly manipulate the geoscience data.
Figure 2: A menu for manipulating the volcano model. Multiple functions are organized and attached to the left controller. Both explicit and implicit attribute information of the volcano are queried through the concentrated user interface.
Figure 3: The process of drawing points and line segments for measuring distance. Distance information and volcano scale are display on a mini pad attached to the left controller. All points and line segments can be deleted to reset distance value by clicking the “clear” button.
Figure 4: The volume detector is an amaranthine colored cube whose thickness and vertical position can be adjusted by the user (left). A menu for measuring volcano volume
and a deep-green mesh inside the volcano surface (right). The measurement result is displayed on a mini pad attached to the left controller.
Figure 5: The user “flies through” the point cloud of Tiansheng River.
Figure 6: Simulated repeat surveys in VR to quantify boulder mobility in Swallow Gorge (2015 vs. 2018).