Center for Spatial Studies

Virtual reality technology has the potential to be a revolutionary addition to the field of Geographic Information Science. The application of virtual reality to GIScience has been discussed for decades, however adoption has been limited until recently. Virtual reality GIScience represents an interdiscip- linary approach, incorporating fields such as video game development. In this paper, we introduce Locative Reality, a virtual reality software that presents users with immersive 360° video experiences of forest environments. It incorporates spatial information into the virtual environment so that data generated by virtual research can be directly linked to real-world locations. The implications for the field of GIScience include virtual research tools and educational experiences, accessible to anyone anywhere in virtual reality.