Fieldscapes – Creating and Evaluating a 3D Virtual Field Trip System

This paper describes the concept of the virtual field trip and presents a taxonomy of virtual field trip approaches. Building on the Virtual Skiddaw project between Daden Limited and The Open University, UK, the Innovate UK-funded 'Virtual Field trips as a Service project' is described. The resulting Fieldscapes system is then presented, along with how it addresses the technical, pedagogical and commercial challenges of creating a virtual field trip system. This is followed by an initial evaluation of the system, and areas for future development and research are identified.