The second Virtual Geoscience Conference

The 2nd Virtual Geoscience Conference (VGC2016) was held 22-23 September in Bergen, Norway. The First VGC was held in 2014 in Lausanne (Switzerland), at that time named the Vertical Geology Conference. The conference was since renamed to reach a broader audience and to establish a new series of gatherings making a multidisciplinary forum for researchers in geoscience, geomatics and related disciplines to share their latest developments and applications. Hosted by the VOG group of Uni Research, more than 140 geologists, geomorphologists (landslide, coastal, glacial, periglacial), volcanologists, photogrammetrists, computer scientists and researchers from other disciplines from more than 25 countries met in the bountiful coastal-fjord town Bergen in Norway.

The technical program comprised two keynote presentations, 24 talks, more than 60 posters and interactive presentations, and a concluding plenum discussion. One particular presentation was memorable to this reviewer. Alves (Vale do Rio dos Sinos University, Brazil) presented a fully immersive 3D virtual reality environment using a head mounted display. This innovative technique lifts the exploration of photorealistic 3D models in geosciences to a new level and allows users to immerse themselves fully in the virtual world, to move through the virtual world and for example to interactively make measurements and map.

Delegates praised not only the high quality of presentations and the inspiring atmosphere at the conference, but also the exquisite lunch buffet with local Norwegian dishes and the classy historical ambiance of the conference venue Hotel Terminus. The conference chairman Simon Buckley and his organising team Nicole Naumann, Tobias Kurz and Christian Eide would like to thank all partners, sponsors and helpers who made this event a large success. We would also like to thank all the participants for coming, some from a great distance, and for their inspiring contributions and discussions. We look forward to seeing all of them again at the next VGC event.

Author:
Dr. Tobias Kurz
Virtual Outcrop Geology
Uni Research AS
Postboks 7810
N-5020 Bergen, Norway
[email protected]