Immersive virtual reality fieldwork investigation of a landslide in Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging platform that has the potential to advance techniques in geological fieldwork. However, geologists currently lack the variation of necessary VR toolsets for this purpose. The reason is that VR is still relatively new and developing as a technology. This is the reason most VR research relating to geoscience have been relatively limited and niche, with a predominant focus on more social-related studies. Therefore, this paper aims to showcase an alternate application approach of VR by conducting a geological investigation and interpretation of a small landslide in Hokkaido, developed following the 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake. To accomplish this task, a virtual replica of the landslide was reconstructed in VR using close-range remote sensing techniques with uncrewed aerial systems, along with accompanying VR measuring tools. We discuss the influence of the pre-earthquake topography on the landslide’s current morphology and sediment deposition patterns from the VR-based topographical measurement results. Furthermore, this study also provides some insight into smaller landslide types which are typically overlooked in current research works. It is recommended that future research further explore VR fieldwork applications across different geomorphological subjects. This research offers valuable insights for practitioners interested in adopting VR technology, while also enhances the current understanding of the landslide phenomenon through a VR-based perspective.