Streaming Geospatial Data into Virtual Reality

The integration of modelling and simulation with Virtual Reality (VR) contributes to the development of Virtual Geographic Environments. In this paper we present a free and open source prototype software that enables the streaming of environmental modelling results into a web-based VR application. It could potentially be used by GIScience professionals and VR developers for building web-based VR applications intended to help scientists, professionals, and members of the public better understand spatial phenomena and processes relevant for spatial planning processes. The server component of our software is implemented in the Land Use Management Support System (LUMASS). It uses WebSockets to send binary data over a TCP connection to a client application. The prototype client application component is based on A-Frame and the JavaScript WebSockets application programming interface. It visualises the received model results as raster data in a web-based VR application. We successfully tested our application using a Google Daydream headset for mobile phones. Future research needs to investigate the scalability of the presented approach and the adoption of standards for streaming geospatial data.