VIRTUAL REALITY OUTCROPS AND 3D PRINTED FIELD GEOLOGY: BRINGING ACTIVE FIELD RESEARCH TO THE CLASSROOM

Teaching students spatial learning skills at the outcrop and map-scale presents a significant challenge for geoscience educators. New technology, virtual reality headsets and 3D printing, give the educator advanced tools to bring the field to the classroom with limited infrastructure. We present an example workflow for producing digital field geology content and invite participants to join us and explore active projects using virtual reality and 3D printed content. 3D, 360° virtual reality footage is filmed on sight using an Insta360 Pro II, 8k resolution camera and footage edited and distributed via Youtube. Students view the media using the onboard browser on the Oculus Quest II headset. Handheld visual aids include 3D printed topography and mineral models. Our virtual reality field trips will demonstrate (1) depositional environments in the southeastern U.S., (2) stratigraphy of northern Wyoming, and (3) faulted metamorphic rocks in western Idaho using this workflow and distribution method.