From coastal geomorphometry to virtual environments

Abstract

Communicating environmental change and mitigation scenarios to stakeholders and decision-makers can be challenging. Immersive environments offer an innovative approach for knowledge transfer, allowing science-based scenarios to be discussed interactively. The use of such environments is particularly helpful for the analysis of large, multi-component geospatial datasets, as commonly employed in the classification of ecosystems. Virtual environments can play an important role in conveying and discussing the findings gathered from these geomorphometric datasets. However, textured meshes and point clouds are not always well suited for direct import to a virtual reality or the creation of a truly immersive environment, and often result in geometrical artifacts, which can be misinterpreted during the import to a game engine. Such technical hurdles may lead to viewers rejecting the experience altogether, failing to achieve a higher educational purpose. In this study, we apply an asset-based approach to create an immersive virtual representation of a coastal environment. The focus hereby is on the coastal vegetation and changes in species distribution, which could potentially be triggered by the impact of climate change. We present an easy-to-use blueprint for the game engine EPIC Unreal Engine 5. In contrast to traditional virtual reality environments, which use static textured mesh data derived from photogrammetry, this asset-based approach enables the use of dynamic and physical properties (e.g. vegetation moving due to wind or waves), which makes the virtual environment more immersive. This will help to stimulate understanding and discussion amongst different stakeholders, and will also help to foster inclusion in earth- and environmental science education.