Community Exploration of Changing Landscape Values: the Role of the Virtual Environment

Virtual reality (VR) technology creates geospatial virtual environments (GeoVEs) and augments the spatiocognitive aspects of human awareness. GeoVEs offer innovative ways of spatial concept formation and spatial knowledge construction. Many applications suggest its substantial potential for exploration of both natural and built-up environments. To extend this potential the GeoVEs should be linked to the data manipulation and analytical capabilities of geographic information systems (GIS). However, much work in integrating GIS features, system implementation, effectiveness testing and human subject evaluation lies ahead. This paper introduces a preliminary stage of this development: the building of the 3D models from GIS data sets, construction of different simulated environments, and a limited group survey of the acceptability of simulated environments. GIS data includes a digital terrain model (DTM), rivers, streams, boundaries, roads and vegetation classes. Pairs of aerial photographs were also registered and mosaiced as drapes on the DTM. As the project develops, various levels of visual and modeling sophistication for exploration of changing landscape values will be available, with particular focus on detailed and effective visualization to allow local people of any background to be actively involved in reviewing landscape options. Human subject evaluation and effectiveness tests for the new technology are being used to determine the acceptability of different presentation options.