The investigation of virtual reality (VR) technology for modelling and visualizing
landslides, or geohazards in general, has garnered increasing attention in studies over
the past decade. Building on previous research with the goal of creating an immersive
and interactive virtual environment, this project aims to enhance decision-making in
risk management and disaster preparedness by providing policymakers, engineers,
and researchers with a tool to visualize complex geohazards in a 3D interactive space.
The Ruinon landslide in Northern Italy serves as a case study, allowing users to
explore the dynamics of the landslide and its evolution over time while understanding
both the Ruinon landslide's impact on its surrounding landscape and the influence of
environmental factors on the landslide itself. The project integrates 3D geomodels
generated from UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) surveys into an interactive VR
environment developed using the Unity game engine. The VR environment enables
users to visualize, in high resolution, key stages of the landslide's evolution and to
comprehend the impact of environmental factors such as precipitation, terrain
features, and land cover, with geospatial data derived from Lombardy region datasets.
The development of the VR environment utilizes C# as it is the primary programming
language of Unity game engine, in addition to various software tools, including
CloudCompare for processing meshes, QGIS for manipulating geospatial data, and
Blender for refining 3D models and adding textures. The Unity-based VR environment
supports user interaction via the Meta Oculus Quest 2 headset and its hand controllers,
allowing users to navigate the virtual landscape, manipulate data layers, interact with
3D models, and observe how different variables influence landslide susceptibility,
which provides a high level of immersion and engagement.