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Geoinformatics-8-2008
article where virtual reality technology meets gis geovisionary geovisionary started out as a 3d visualisation suite for the british geological survey, but became more than a tool for geologists: it makes data available also for external clients and visitors. the surveyor and geologist don t need to move from 2d to 3d anymore after using geovisioary. andrew connell explains what geovisionary is all about, how it works and what the future has in store. by andrew connell geovisionary developed jointly by virtalis and the british geological survey allows the user to really immerse themselves in multi-source data in real time. the inception of geovisionary geovisionary is a happy accident. out of the blue, virtalis was asked to provide a 3d visualisation suite for the british geological survey (bgs). a pioneer of modern geology, bgs has an international reputation for excellence. what began initially as a simple suppler-customer relationship has burgeoned into a rich partnership where both organisations have fed the other with ideas and expertise. virtalis supplied a virtual reality (vr) suite for bgs s head office and then another to its regional office in edinburgh. once bgs realised the power of vr technology, it asked virtalis to help them develop a stereoscopic surveying fieldwork software application. bgs aimed, with virtalis help, to create a 3d model containing detailed data about the subsurface of the uk. bgs geologists at the time were using various software packages to help them develop their 3d models, including gocad, arcscene and fledermaus. virtalis has also helped develop a software application to aid interpretation of geology within the uk s assynt area and the north pennines geopark. using the tracking system, the virtalis team quickly created a demonstrator system capable of immersing the user in the virtual 3d geology and landscape, enabling them to explore their data. more than a tool for geologists as this prototype model gained more and more features and groups of people came to december 2008 58
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