How Academics and the Public Experienced Immersive Virtual Reality for Geo-Education
Immersive virtual reality can potentially open up interesting geological sites to students, academics and others who may not have had the opportunity to visit such sites previously. We study how users perceive the usefulness of an immersive virtual reality approach applied to Earth Sciences teaching...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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Series: | Geosciences |
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/12/1/9 |
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author | Fabio L. Bonali Elena Russo Fabio Vitello Varvara Antoniou Fabio Marchese Luca Fallati Valentina Bracchi Noemi Corti Alessandra Savini Malcolm Whitworth Kyriaki Drymoni Federico Pasquaré Mariotto Paraskevi Nomikou Eva Sciacca Sofia Bressan Susanna Falsaperla Danilo Reitano Benjamin van Wyk de Vries Mel Krokos Giuliana Panieri Mathew Alexander Stiller-Reeve Giuseppe Vizzari Ugo Becciani Alessandro Tibaldi |
author_facet | Fabio L. Bonali Elena Russo Fabio Vitello Varvara Antoniou Fabio Marchese Luca Fallati Valentina Bracchi Noemi Corti Alessandra Savini Malcolm Whitworth Kyriaki Drymoni Federico Pasquaré Mariotto Paraskevi Nomikou Eva Sciacca Sofia Bressan Susanna Falsaperla Danilo Reitano Benjamin van Wyk de Vries Mel Krokos Giuliana Panieri Mathew Alexander Stiller-Reeve Giuseppe Vizzari Ugo Becciani Alessandro Tibaldi |
author_sort | Fabio L. Bonali |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Immersive virtual reality can potentially open up interesting geological sites to students, academics and others who may not have had the opportunity to visit such sites previously. We study how users perceive the usefulness of an immersive virtual reality approach applied to Earth Sciences teaching and communication. During nine immersive virtual reality-based events held in 2018 and 2019 in various locations (Vienna in Austria, Milan and Catania in Italy, Santorini in Greece), a large number of visitors had the opportunity to navigate, in immersive mode, across geological landscapes reconstructed by cutting-edge, unmanned aerial system-based photogrammetry techniques. The reconstructed virtual geological environments are specifically chosen virtual geosites, from Santorini (Greece), the North Volcanic Zone (Iceland), and Mt. Etna (Italy). Following the user experiences, we collected 459 questionnaires, with a large spread in participant age and cultural background. We find that the majority of respondents would be willing to repeat the immersive virtual reality experience, and importantly, most of the students and Earth Science academics who took part in the navigation confirmed the usefulness of this approach for geo-education purposes. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:24:41Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-409096e6e6c24b09b0fd302d4e16ad0d |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2076-3263 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:24:41Z |
publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
record_format | Article |
series | Geosciences |
spelling | doaj.art-409096e6e6c24b09b0fd302d4e16ad0d2023-11-23T13:53:29ZengMDPI AGGeosciences2076-32632021-12-01121910.3390/geosciences12010009How Academics and the Public Experienced Immersive Virtual Reality for Geo-EducationFabio L. Bonali0Elena Russo1Fabio Vitello2Varvara Antoniou3Fabio Marchese4Luca Fallati5Valentina Bracchi6Noemi Corti7Alessandra Savini8Malcolm Whitworth9Kyriaki Drymoni10Federico Pasquaré Mariotto11Paraskevi Nomikou12Eva Sciacca13Sofia Bressan14Susanna Falsaperla15Danilo Reitano16Benjamin van Wyk de Vries17Mel Krokos18Giuliana Panieri19Mathew Alexander Stiller-Reeve20Giuseppe Vizzari21Ugo Becciani22Alessandro Tibaldi23Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1-4, 20126 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1-4, 20126 Milan, ItalyINAF-Istituto di Radioastronomia, via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, ItalyDepartment of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1-4, 20126 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1-4, 20126 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1-4, 20126 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1-4, 20126 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1-4, 20126 Milan, ItalySchool of the Environment, Geography and Geosciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PL01 3QL, UKDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1-4, 20126 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Human and Innovation Sciences, Insubria University, Via S. Abbondio 12, 22100 Como, ItalyDepartment of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Athens, GreeceINAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Via Santa Sofia 78, 95123 Catania, ItalyDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1-4, 20126 Milan, ItalyIstituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia-Osservatorio Etneo, Piazza Roma 2, 95125 Catania, ItalyIstituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia-Osservatorio Etneo, Piazza Roma 2, 95125 Catania, ItalyLaboratoire Magmas et Volcans, Observatoire du Physique du Globed e Clermont, IRD, UMR6524-CNRS, Université Clermont Auvergne, 63170 Aubiere, FranceSchool of Creative Technologies, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 2DJ, UKCAGE, Center for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate, The Arctic University of Norway, 9019 Tromso, NorwayKonsulent Stiller-Reeve, 5281 Valestrandsfossen, NorwayDepartment of Informatics, Systems and Communication, University of Milan Bicocca, Viale Sarca 336/14, 20126 Milan, ItalyINAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Via Santa Sofia 78, 95123 Catania, ItalyDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1-4, 20126 Milan, ItalyImmersive virtual reality can potentially open up interesting geological sites to students, academics and others who may not have had the opportunity to visit such sites previously. We study how users perceive the usefulness of an immersive virtual reality approach applied to Earth Sciences teaching and communication. During nine immersive virtual reality-based events held in 2018 and 2019 in various locations (Vienna in Austria, Milan and Catania in Italy, Santorini in Greece), a large number of visitors had the opportunity to navigate, in immersive mode, across geological landscapes reconstructed by cutting-edge, unmanned aerial system-based photogrammetry techniques. The reconstructed virtual geological environments are specifically chosen virtual geosites, from Santorini (Greece), the North Volcanic Zone (Iceland), and Mt. Etna (Italy). Following the user experiences, we collected 459 questionnaires, with a large spread in participant age and cultural background. We find that the majority of respondents would be willing to repeat the immersive virtual reality experience, and importantly, most of the students and Earth Science academics who took part in the navigation confirmed the usefulness of this approach for geo-education purposes.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/12/1/9immersive virtual realitygeologyphotogrammetryeducationIcelandSantorini |
spellingShingle | Fabio L. Bonali Elena Russo Fabio Vitello Varvara Antoniou Fabio Marchese Luca Fallati Valentina Bracchi Noemi Corti Alessandra Savini Malcolm Whitworth Kyriaki Drymoni Federico Pasquaré Mariotto Paraskevi Nomikou Eva Sciacca Sofia Bressan Susanna Falsaperla Danilo Reitano Benjamin van Wyk de Vries Mel Krokos Giuliana Panieri Mathew Alexander Stiller-Reeve Giuseppe Vizzari Ugo Becciani Alessandro Tibaldi How Academics and the Public Experienced Immersive Virtual Reality for Geo-Education Geosciences immersive virtual reality geology photogrammetry education Iceland Santorini |
title | How Academics and the Public Experienced Immersive Virtual Reality for Geo-Education |
title_full | How Academics and the Public Experienced Immersive Virtual Reality for Geo-Education |
title_fullStr | How Academics and the Public Experienced Immersive Virtual Reality for Geo-Education |
title_full_unstemmed | How Academics and the Public Experienced Immersive Virtual Reality for Geo-Education |
title_short | How Academics and the Public Experienced Immersive Virtual Reality for Geo-Education |
title_sort | how academics and the public experienced immersive virtual reality for geo education |
topic | immersive virtual reality geology photogrammetry education Iceland Santorini |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/12/1/9 |
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