Virtual Globe

Abstract

While data visualization is widely used for exploring and visually comprehending the data, virtual reality (VR) takes it to a higher level of immersive experience. VR provides an artificially simulated environment in which the user can be part of the environment and interact with it, as permitted by the VR application. VR has been used as an extension to several graphical user interface (GUI) applications, but one of the most relevant applications is representing the threedimensional (3D) model of the planet Earth itself. This 3D representation of the Earth extends to a four-dimensional (4D) one whenever spatiotemporal data is used. Such an application allows the user to explore and experience the environment and to edit the data loaded to visualize the world, representing the natural and man-made artifacts. Such a VR application is referred to as the virtual world (Yu and Gong 2012). An example of a virtual globe that has popularized this technology in recent times is the Google Earth VR. 1