A Location-Based Virtual Reality Application for Mountain Peak Detection

Abstract

Location-based mobile outdoor applications are powerful tools that can engage users in social and environmental tasks and support the emerging paradigm of citizen science. In this paper we present PeakLensVR, a virtual reality location-based mobile app that enables users to capture with their mobile phone panoramic mountain images and later visualize such images, enriched with metadata about the peaks visible from the capture point, with a low-end VR device. The goal of PeakLensVR is to harness the emerging trend of geo-located augmented and virtual reality applications to foster a community of environmentally conscious users who volunteer in the collection of mountain images for environment monitoring purposes.