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THE BRITISH Geological Survey (BGS) has had a Virtalis StereoWorks visualisation system installed in order to appreciate its wealth of geological data in 3D. Ian Smith, programme manager for the Digital Geoscience Spatial Model (DGSM) explained: “Our investment in Virtual Reality (VR) is part of a strategic change from paper to digital volume models at BGS. After all, geology is a 3D subject. Over the last five years, the standards, data structures and procedures for 3D modelling have been set by the Digital Geoscience Spatial Model (DGSM) project. By following the recommendations of the DGSM, all future models will be constructed according to the best practice.”
The system, though only just installed, has already begun to capture the imaginations of many geologists and the numerous other bodies who are concerned with what lies beneath the ground, such as council planning departments, utilities providers, landfill experts and representatives from the coal and oil industries.Andrew Connell, Virtalis’ technical director, explained: “This StereoWorks configuration consists of a single large screen onto which stereo images are rear projected by a Christie Mirage S+4K. This is the first projector of its type in the Europe and is capable of extremely high resolution and brightness, boasting one and a half mega pixels. We integrated the entire room’s control system into a wireless touch panel, so that light and sound are all controlled from a single point. It will seat 18 people, but, as it also features a wireless IS-900 tracking system from Intersense, two to three people will be able to interact immersively with their models.”Ian Smith commented: “The people who have seen it have found it very striking. Although the computer technology is sophisticated, we have got the unintimidating, human-scale system we wanted. The next phase should prove to be very exciting, as the stereo viewing will help us to see what we understand about the earth, not just academics, who should be able to move between data and vision in a single step, but also lay people too.” Soon, teams from the BGS will be able to use the Virtalis system for video conferencing and as part of the special university Access Grid that allows academics to share their latest findings nationally and internationally. Once the different modelling environments have been loaded onto the system, work will continue to bring the already well known, “Britain Beneath Our Feet”, to a higher level of sophistication. This 3D model contains detailed data about the subsurface of the whole country. With space at a premium, not just in this country, but around the world, a fuller appreciation of what lies underground is becoming ever more important. |
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