Beyond flat screen and disciplinarity borders: a collaboration between artists and geoscientists using immersive visualisations and innovative digital technologies to model and study geohazards
Authors: Manzella Irene , Sgarabotto Alessandro , Prior Andrew , Garghouti Musaab , Stewart Iain 
Published: March 2024

Collaboration with artists is often seen as a side activity in the work of geoscientists and it is mainly dedicated to outreach and education. Notwithstanding their importance, the art-science synergy has not been fully utilised and its value and potential are still highly underestimated. This cross-disciplinary collaboration can become instrumental in Disaster Risk Reduction to engage with communities at risk, facilitating knowledge exchanges, and improving response, preparedness, and recovery.
For this reason, one of the four work packages of the SENSUM project: (smart SENSing of landscapes Undergoing hazardous hydrogeological Movements, NE/V003402/1), has been entirely dedicated to the collaboration between artists and geoscientists for the co-creation of immersive visualisations.
The fourth industrial revolution has brought into the contemporary era an array of digital tools that have been changing the monitoring, understanding and communication of hydrogeological hazards, contributing significantly to their mitigation. The present work specifically focuses on the creation of motion graphics tailored to illustrate the practical application of the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart sensor technologies in hazard monitoring. These visualisations are designed to be shown in Immersive Vision Theatres (IVTs), a category encompassing 'full dome' theaters where the audience is surrounded by images and sounds and feels immersed in them. The motion graphics integrated quotes, images, videos, 360-degree camera footage, drone scans, stylized animations, and tridimensional (3D) rendering models developing a narrative across multiple media formats. 3D visualisations in particular were developed by either SPH numerical simulations, drone footage or digital models. Media resources were suitably adapted to map them on the dome surface using the game-design software Unreal Engine. The immersive experience was created through comprehensive graphic assets spanning the entire dome surface, drawing audiences deep into the heart of the storytelling. The integration of tailored music and sound effects amplified the impact of the visual content, fostering audience engagement and facilitating the exchange of knowledge.&#160;
Further research is needed to quantify systematically the effects on the audience exposed to visualisations in the immersive theatre rather than shown on a flat screen. However, the close collaboration in the creative process between artists and geoscientists has already been extremely valuable for the participants, not only to improve the understanding of each other approaches and disciplines but also to increase personal skills and mutual communication and create a more inclusive work environment.&#160;
It has also shown that these truly interdisciplinary collaborations require effort and time. However even if the outcomes have proven to be very effective and important, they are not yet properly valued by the scientific community. In this framework, progress should be made to consider outputs resulting from the integration of arts and sciences as proper scientific results, going beyond the traditional vision of the different disciplines. This will allow geoscientists to gain new insights and move forward in disaster risk reduction research.