Coal mines are dynamic systems that change continually in size, shape, and condition. Large quantities of data about
production, coal quality, ground stability, ventilation monitoring, equipment performance and location, vehicle and
personnel movements and geology, are generated from all parts of the mine.
Internet technology and virtual reality technology are now being combined to provide an intuitive, multi-dimensional
information system which can simultaneously display any information that can be collected and stored by a computer.
Physical information is directly displayed as 3-dimensional objects in the mine model. Numerical and text information is
dynamically linked to these objects and accessed by "clicking" on them.