Virtual Reality (Vr) Assisted Geomatics Lab Development

Abstract

Abstract. Virtual Reality (VR) lab components provide the opportunity to explore the efficacy of this technology on Geomatics education and lay the groundwork for the VR as an emerging education paradigm. Geomatics education at UF has been innovatively optimized towards a hybrid education system, with most of the curriculum taught using distance communication. Nevertheless, Geomatics teaching still involves intensive indoor and outdoor lab components. VR labs enable learning and practicing lab techniques as an alternative or supplement to live lab activities. These technically and physically demanding activities require intensive training on expensive lab equipment. The labs often go beyond allocated lab time and are susceptible to bad weather conditions. Using VR technology provides an integrated learning experience that mixes instructions with simulated physical activities, eliminating many limitations associated with lab instruction. In this study, we demonstrate the development of the total station device centring and levelling lab activity using the Meta Quest 2 Headset on the Unity Software Development Platform, as well as Unity’s XR Interaction Toolkit. Development challenges related to different setup components (e.g., bubble-level setup, effective gravity for editing tripod placement, component intractability) are presented. Among multiple challenges of using Unity for the development of an educational VR application, adjusting the functions of the XR Toolkit in order to get the desired outcomes stands as one of the largest difficulties. Unity’s physics is not intuitive for the intended purposes of this project, so multiple technical workarounds were required including the use of Unity’s UI (User Interface) features.