Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environments

The Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environments (VGE Lab) is a new and developing workplace engaged in research and innovation in the field of immersive virtual reality (iVR) with an emphasis on geography, cartography, and geoinformatics.

Virtual Geographic Environment (VGE) is a term denoting a virtual representation of a real "geographic" environment combining visualization, simulation, and analytical tools with the aim of deepening knowledge in the fields of geography and cartography (geographic visualization, spatial analysis, problem-solving, collaboration in collaborative virtual environments, education, or training of cognitive processes); the issues of geography and cartography are presented in them in a dynamic and interactive form.

Laboratory Equipment:

The laboratory is equipped with modern headsets for virtual reality and powerful process equipment, which are also available to MUNI SCI students as part of solving their final theses or research projects.

• 1x VR HMD HTC Vive Pro Eye
• 2x VR HMD Pico Neo 3 Pro Eye
• 4x VR HMD Oculus Quest 2

Participation in projects:

In recent years, the main research projects have mainly included studies of evacuation and spatial behavior in the environment of virtual buildings, or teaching geography in collaborative immersive virtual environments.

01/2023 - 12/2025: BARIÉRY (23-06187S) – Identification of barriers in the process of communication of socio-demographic information (GACR project); lead applicant – Department of Geoinformatics, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc; project website

06/2020 - 12/2023: EduInCIVE (TL03000346) – Education in Collaborative Immersive Virtual Reality (TACR project); lead applicant – Department of Information and Library Studies, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University; project website

01/2019 - 12/2022: CANAVERAL (TL02000103) – Cognitive psychology and spatial syntax in virtual environments for agent models (TACR project); lead applicant – Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University; project website

Theses:

UGWITZ, Pavel. Facilitating and Evaluating User Behavior In Virtual 3D Environments. Dissertation thesis, GeogÚ PřF MU, 2022. Available at: https://theses.cz/id/xa2nqo/

BOŘIL, Jan. VGE in spatial tasks learning - the role of interaction. Diploma thesis, GeogÚ PřF MU, 2022. Available at: https://theses.cz/id/hpvuqi/

BOŘIL, Jan. Cartographic support of emergency evacuation. Bachelor thesis, GeogÚ PřF MU, 2020. Available at: https://theses.cz/id/f9hmdv/

MARTINCOVÁ, Jana. The influence of shade on perception of virtual environments. Diploma thesis, GeogÚ PřF MU, 2020. Available at: https://theses.cz/id/crk70k/

FILA, Milan. Level of detail within the 3D cartographic visualization. Diploma thesis, GeogÚ PřF MU, 2020. Available at: https://theses.cz/id/epjge4/

PAVLAČKOVÁ, Nikola. Virtual reality motion platforms and users behaviour. Bachelor thesis, GeogÚ PřF MU, 2020. Available at: https://theses.cz/id/68nk4x/

KVARDA, Ondřej. Virtual reality as a means of cartographic communication. Diploma thesis, GeogÚ PřF MU, 2020. Available at: https://theses.cz/id/xssg6j/

KVARDA, Ondřej. Possibilities of low-cost devices in virtual reality. Bachelor thesis, GeogÚ PřF MU, 2018. Available at: https://theses.cz/id/loidab/

Publications with the participation of VGE Lab:

UGWITZ, Pavel, Ondřej KVARDA, Zuzana JUŘÍKOVÁ, Čeněk ŠAŠINKA a Tamm SASCHA. Eye-Tracking in Interactive Virtual Environments: Implementation and Evaluation. Applied Sciences. Basel, Switzerland: MDPI, 2022, 12(3), pp. 1–30. ISSN 2076-3417. doi:10.3390/app12031027. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/3/1027

JOCHECOVÁ, Kateřina, Michal ČERNÝ, Zdeněk STACHOŇ, Hana ŠVEDOVÁ, Natálie KÁČOVÁ, Jiří CHMELÍK, Vojtěch BRŮŽA, Ondřej KVARDA, Pavel UGWITZ, Alžběta ŠAŠINKOVÁ, Nicola Catherine FOŘTOVÁ a Čeněk ŠAŠINKA. Geography Education in a Collaborative Virtual Environment: A Qualitative Study on Geography Teachers. International Journal of Geo-Information, 2022, 11(3). ISSN 2220-9964. doi:10.3390/ijgi11030180. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/11/3/180

SNOPKOVÁ, Dajana, Pavel UGWITZ, Zdeněk STACHOŇ, Jiří HLADÍK, Vojtěch JUŘÍK, Ondřej KVARDA a Petr KUBÍČEK. Retracing evacuation strategy: A virtual reality game-based investigation into the influence of building’s spatial configuration in an emergency. Spatial Cognition & Computation. Taylor & Francis, 2021, 22(1–2), pp. 30–50. ISSN 1387-5868. doi:10.1080/13875868.2021.1913497. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13875868.2021.1913497

VGE Lab contact: