Subsurface Geosciences Learning in Virtual Reality: A Case Study in Central Luconia Province, Malaysia

The recent proliferation of Extended Reality (XR) applications in geoscience education and research has opened new avenues for the enhanced visualization and analysis of the Earth’s geodata. This study specifically explores the benefits for teaching when supplementing industry standard software packages, such as Paleoscan, Petrel, and JewelSuite, with 3D visualization in XR. The teaching focuses on but is not limited to an understanding of subsurface seismic and well data. During this study, the undergraduate Petroleum Geoscience students transitioned from 2D computer screen visualizations to immersive XR tools. The dataset selected for teaching focuses on the subsurface carbonate EX field in the South China Sea. The EX-field in Central Luconia is located 100–300 km from Sarawak’s coastline in water depths of 60–140 m. It includes a post-stacked time- 3D seismic cube linked to wells, allowing students to work with seismic data, adjust scales, and conduct preliminary seismic analysis. The findings revealed a significant improvement in respondents’ skills in comprehending and analysing seismic and core data, enhancing the overall learning experience in Petroleum Geoscience. This paper also examines the students’ feedback on their learning experiences during virtual subsurface visualization throughout their university degree in geoscience. For evaluating learning success, we used an approach that merges quantitative and qualitative data, The students’ perceptions were assessed through anonymous quantitative surveys and questions. The analysis of student responses emphasizes the valuable learning experience offered by 3D virtual environments designed for realistic first-person navigation and freedom of movement, like a real field experience. The results highlight the potential of virtual subsurface visualization for imparting essential skills to geosciences.