Taiwan earthquake zone transformed into virtual reality model

The devastation wrought by the earthquake in Taiwan early Saturday morning has been captured on video and in numerous photos, but a few locals have enhanced the world's view of the disaster by posting a three-dimensional model of the scene.

Posted by modelers from the National Cheng Kung University, the 3D construct of the Wei-guan Golden Dragon Building was made available on the Sketchfab 3D modeling community website just hours after the quake.

The model reveals some of the damage suffered by the 17-story high-rise building that collapsed and killed at least 13 people during the 6.4-magnitude earthquake.

If viewed via the web, the models can be manipulated by your cursor, but if you check out the model through your smartphone you can get a kind of virtual reality view of the disaster zone. 

According to a spokesperson from Sketchfab in contact with Mashable, "this type of data is usually [from] video footage processed with photogrammetry," which is the practice of creating two- and three-dimensional measurements from photographs. 

As of this writing, many in the earthquake impact zone remain missing. And while the 3D model isn't likely to help rescue workers to find them, it will help many following the situation to understand and empathize with the victims as the story continues to unfold. 

Additional reporting by Brian Ries

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