VIRTUAL ROCKS, VIRTUAL OUTCROPS, AND VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS

The ability to visualize objects in 3D is fundamental in geology, and yet we have hardly integrated any virtual 3D tools in our courses, even though such tools have been available for years. Apart from occasional tests carried out by individuals, there has been no systematic effort to use the latest technology in the classroom and the field. Covid restrictions accelerated a project we were already working on: creating a collection of 3D models of rocks and outcrops to be used as a training aid in the classroom. Travel restrictions, which at our institution included a yearlong complete ban of all field courses, spurred us to expand the original concept to include a full 3D virtual environment for students to carry out field trips. We looked at three factors: costs, time, and level of difficulty. That meant finding commercial software and hardware that was affordable and did not require programming skills, engineering skills, or special licenses and, in the case of outcrops, using areas for which we already had a significant amount of material from previous years. We also used public platforms to store our 3D models, and as a source of additional models for our virtual courses.

We created 3D models of hand samples from our own rock collection, and 3D models of key outcrops at several field locations that we normally use in both Spain and Germany, using both hand-held cameras and a small drone. Image processing to produce scaled and georeferenced models was done with Metashape Pro. Our 3D rock labs were built using the tools available in Moodle. Students can access the labs through Moodle, while the 3D models are hosted on Sketchfab and linked. We used instead 3DVista Pro, a software originally designed for real estate and hotel showcasing, to produce immersive, interactive virtual field trips. This software allows linking our 3D models, which are stored on either Sketchfab or V3Geo, with videos, animations, photos, maps, text, and realistic sounds for each field scene. An e-learning module in the form of quizzes and game-like features can be incorporated. Virtual trips can be customized: some are show-and-tell field trips, some are field exercises where students are expected to carry out measurements and observations, and others are complementary material for remote mapping courses. The reception from students has been positive, and we plan to keep using these tools even now that the covid crisis is over.