City Planners Use Virtual Reality to Show Residents How Climate Change Will Affect Their Neighborhoods

As sea levels rise, the shore will creep inward. For coastal towns facing several feet of sea level rise, a change so big is hard to visualize. Now, a virtual reality start-up is trying to make it easier by creating simulations for residents to show how flooding will impact their neighborhoods.

The goal of the project, developed by start-up company Virtual Planet, "is to start a conversation and help folks visualize the impacts [of climate change] and the solutions, and also discuss the trade-offs between them," program developer Juliano Calil tells Nathan Rott at NPR.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/city-planners-use-virtual-reality-show-residents-how-climate-change-will-affect-their-neighborhoods-180973660/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20191127-daily-responsive&spMailingID=41212922&spUserID=NTkyNzY2ODg1MzgyS0&spJobID=1642503875&spReportId=MTY0MjUwMzg3NQS2