The 2010 Haiti earthquake posed unique challenges for scientists seeking to understand the extent and nature of the disaster. A remote location, debris, rugged terrain, and weather all combined to make the usual methods of investigation difficult. So they flew a plane over, mapped the island with lasers, and rebuilt the whole thing in virtual reality. MSNBC has the story.
Exploring the site in virtual reality allowed researchers to examine places they couldn’t easily reach in real life. Also, virtual reality can bring together huge amounts of data into one visible whole. Readings from hundreds of tests can all be merged together into a single picture. Expect more real science to be done in a virtual world.