How Academics and the Public Experienced Immersive Virtual Reality for Geo-Education

Fabio L. Bonali; Elena Russo; Fabio Vitello; Varvara Antoniou; Fabio Marchese; Luca Fallati; V. A. 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

doi:10.3390/geosciences12010009

How Academics and the Public Experienced Immersive Virtual Reality for Geo-Education

Fabio L. Bonali, Elena Russo, Fabio Vitello, Varvara Antoniou, Fabio Marchese, Luca Fallati, V. A. 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 PanieriMathew Alexander Stiller-Reeve, Giuseppe Vizzari, Ugo Becciani, Alessandro Tibaldi

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

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.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	9
Journal	Geosciences
Volume	12
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12010009
State	Published - Dec 24 2021
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2022-07-06
Acknowledgements: This research has been provided in the framework of the following projects: (i) the MIUR project ACPR15T4_00098–Argo3D (http://argo3d.unimib.it/ (accessed on 26 November 2021)); (ii) 3DTeLC Erasmus + Project 2017-1-UK01-KA203-036719 (http://www.3dtelc.com (accessed on 26 November 2021)); (iii) EGU 2018 Public Engagement Grant (https://www.egu.eu/outreach/ peg/ (accessed on 26 November 2021)). Agisoft Metashape is acknowledged for photogrammetric data processing. This article is also an outcome of Project MIUR–Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2018– 2022. Finally, this paper is an outcome of the Virtual Reality lab for Earth Sciences—GeoVires lab (https://geovires.unimib.it/ (accessed on 26 November 2021)). The work supports UNESCO IGCP 692 ‘Geoheritage for Resilience’.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Earth and Planetary Sciences

Access to Document

10.3390/geosciences12010009

https://repository.kaust.edu.sa/bitstream/10754/675053/1/geosciences-12-00009-v3%20%282%29.pdf

Cite this

Bonali, F. L., Russo, E., Vitello, F., Antoniou, V., Marchese, F., Fallati, L., Bracchi, V. A., Corti, N., Savini, A., Whitworth, M., Drymoni, K., Mariotto, F. P., Nomikou, P., Sciacca, E., Bressan, S., Falsaperla, S., Reitano, D., van Wyk de Vries, B., Krokos, M., ... Tibaldi, A. (2021). How Academics and the Public Experienced Immersive Virtual Reality for Geo-Education. Geosciences, 12(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12010009

@article{da7c1e8d994244599e54959b05da78d1,

title = "How Academics and the Public Experienced Immersive Virtual Reality for Geo-Education",

abstract = "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.",

author = "Bonali, {Fabio L.} and Elena Russo and Fabio Vitello and Varvara Antoniou and Fabio Marchese and Luca Fallati and Bracchi, {V. A.} and Noemi Corti and Alessandra Savini and Malcolm Whitworth and Kyriaki Drymoni and Mariotto, {Federico Pasquar{\'e}} and Paraskevi Nomikou and Eva Sciacca and Sofia Bressan and Susanna Falsaperla and Danilo Reitano and {van Wyk de Vries}, Benjamin and Mel Krokos and Giuliana Panieri and Stiller-Reeve, {Mathew Alexander} and Giuseppe Vizzari and Ugo Becciani and Alessandro Tibaldi",

note = "KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2022-07-06 Acknowledgements: This research has been provided in the framework of the following projects: (i) the MIUR project ACPR15T4_00098–Argo3D (http://argo3d.unimib.it/ (accessed on 26 November 2021)); (ii) 3DTeLC Erasmus + Project 2017-1-UK01-KA203-036719 (http://www.3dtelc.com (accessed on 26 November 2021)); (iii) EGU 2018 Public Engagement Grant (https://www.egu.eu/outreach/ peg/ (accessed on 26 November 2021)). Agisoft Metashape is acknowledged for photogrammetric data processing. This article is also an outcome of Project MIUR–Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2018– 2022. Finally, this paper is an outcome of the Virtual Reality lab for Earth Sciences—GeoVires lab (https://geovires.unimib.it/ (accessed on 26 November 2021)). The work supports UNESCO IGCP 692 {\textquoteleft}Geoheritage for Resilience{\textquoteright}.",

year = "2021",

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doi = "10.3390/geosciences12010009",

language = "English (US)",

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Bonali, FL, Russo, E, Vitello, F, Antoniou, V, Marchese, F, Fallati, L, Bracchi, VA, Corti, N, Savini, A, Whitworth, M, Drymoni, K, Mariotto, FP, Nomikou, P, Sciacca, E, Bressan, S, Falsaperla, S, Reitano, D, van Wyk de Vries, B, Krokos, M, Panieri, G, Stiller-Reeve, MA, Vizzari, G, Becciani, U & Tibaldi, A 2021, 'How Academics and the Public Experienced Immersive Virtual Reality for Geo-Education', Geosciences, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12010009

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T1 - How Academics and the Public Experienced Immersive Virtual Reality for Geo-Education

AU - Bonali, Fabio L.

AU - Russo, Elena

AU - Vitello, Fabio

AU - Antoniou, Varvara

AU - Marchese, Fabio

AU - Fallati, Luca

AU - Bracchi, V. A.

AU - Corti, Noemi

AU - Savini, Alessandra

AU - Whitworth, Malcolm

AU - Drymoni, Kyriaki

AU - Mariotto, Federico Pasquaré

AU - Nomikou, Paraskevi

AU - Sciacca, Eva

AU - Bressan, Sofia

AU - Falsaperla, Susanna

AU - Reitano, Danilo

AU - van Wyk de Vries, Benjamin

AU - Krokos, Mel

AU - Panieri, Giuliana

AU - Stiller-Reeve, Mathew Alexander

AU - Vizzari, Giuseppe

AU - Becciani, Ugo

AU - Tibaldi, Alessandro

N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2022-07-06 Acknowledgements: This research has been provided in the framework of the following projects: (i) the MIUR project ACPR15T4_00098–Argo3D (http://argo3d.unimib.it/ (accessed on 26 November 2021)); (ii) 3DTeLC Erasmus + Project 2017-1-UK01-KA203-036719 (http://www.3dtelc.com (accessed on 26 November 2021)); (iii) EGU 2018 Public Engagement Grant (https://www.egu.eu/outreach/ peg/ (accessed on 26 November 2021)). Agisoft Metashape is acknowledged for photogrammetric data processing. This article is also an outcome of Project MIUR–Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2018– 2022. Finally, this paper is an outcome of the Virtual Reality lab for Earth Sciences—GeoVires lab (https://geovires.unimib.it/ (accessed on 26 November 2021)). The work supports UNESCO IGCP 692 ‘Geoheritage for Resilience’.

PY - 2021/12/24

Y1 - 2021/12/24

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

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U2 - 10.3390/geosciences12010009

DO - 10.3390/geosciences12010009

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JO - Geosciences

JF - Geosciences

IS - 1

ER -

How Academics and the Public Experienced Immersive Virtual Reality for Geo-Education

Abstract

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ASJC Scopus subject areas

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