Real Geographies in Virtual Space: A Practical Workflow for Geovisualization with Immersive VR

Abstract

Propelled by the video game industries, virtual reality (VR) systems are on the verge of entering the electronic mass media market. VR not just allows generating imaginary worlds, but also visualizing real geographies and possible past and future scenarios of real-world environments. However, VR capabilities of current geographic information systems (GIS) are limited as yet, thus challenging the transport of geodata into VR applications. Given the shortcomings of GIS, the present article proposes a practical workflow for the visualization of geographic information with immersive environments. Principal work steps are 3D-modeling, composition, performance optimization and the final dissemination on VR platforms. We will illustrate all elements of our workflow using the example of an immersive VR application of a coral reef in the Mexican Caribbean, thus providing both theoretical and practical background on the visualization of real-world data in VR space.