Using Immersive Technologies to Train Students on Topographic Mapping

Immersive technologies continuously gain ground in surveying education and industry, offering solutions to several problems. Although few examples exist, in education immersive technologies have the potential to become a powerful tool for surveying educators, addressing challenges in traditional teaching methods such as remote learning and site inaccessibility. Despite the many benefits, however, some limitations exist, such as the effort to create and maintain immersive experiences and motion sickness. This paper expands on our previous work and implements virtual reality (VR) labs and 360° videos for topographic mapping. VR labs help students develop their critical thinking skills and their ability to “read” the terrain. They also offer means for enhanced analysis of student measurements that sometimes is not possible in physical labs. Terrain comparisons, exam grades, and student feedback show the that immersive technologies can be used for spatially complex tasks, such as reading the terrain and building basic surveying skills. These results demonstrate the exciting future that these technologies can have in surveying engineering education to support and enhance student learning.