Virtual reality software used by scientists at the University of California, Davis, to study everything from earthquakes to molecular biology in a 3-D “cave” can now run on some off-the-shelf gaming VR headsets. Instructions and downloads are available online.
For more than 10 years, the Keck Center for Active Visualization in Earth Sciences (KeckCAVES) at UC Davis has allowed researchers to build 3-D, interactive models of places they cannot visit in reality.
A medical researcher can use virtual reality to walk around — or go into — a 3-D image of a skull from a patient’s CT scan. A geologist can walk around the landscape of a massive landslide and make precise measurements. A seismologist can watch a sequence of earthquakes and take precise measurements of depth and distance.
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Source: Ucdavis