The advancement of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has brought a wide range of decision-making tools to almost all sectors. However, traditional 2D GIS systems often lack the depth and interconnections that are crucial to deep thinking in many applications of GIS, such as urban planning, environmental monitoring and disaster management. This paper describes the use of 3D modelling and Virtual Reality (VR) in GIS platforms as a means of enhancing the full comprehension of complex data. The ability to visualise cities, ecosystems or disaster-prone areas in 3D makes spatial data more intuitive and interactive. VR takes this one step further by allowing stakeholders to move around the virtual environment and interact with data in real time, improving their level of preparedness when making decisions. We discuss the practical applications of these technologies in the fields of urban planning, environmental conservation and disaster management. We also highlight some of the technical challenges involved in building a 3D GIS or VR, such as data processing and user interface design. The paper concludes with some future trends and possible developments in 3D GIS and VR.
Cao et al. (Thu,) studied this question.