Visualizing 3-D geographical data with VRML

Abstract

The article discusses visualizing and interacting with 3D geographical data via VRML in the Web environment. For this purpose, the Web based desktop VR for geographical information is conceptualized. After VRML is briefly introduced, issues in modeling geographical data such as modeling geometry, topology and appearance are addressed. Sample visualization results for terrain and buildings are given, followed by discussions on the application of VRML. Cooperation within computer graphics and GIS is prospected in automatic model reconstruction and in exploring VRML application potential in visualizing geographical information.