Back in college (1980) I recall a professor saying how those computer guys thought they were so great - until they had to process the piles of seismic data industry would give them.
I recall reading about one of the oil companies using virtual reality (years ago now) where a person could enter a room that would have three dimensional seismic data displayed and one could walk among the formations to get a better understanding of the geology.
I worked in those rooms. I thought they were a crock and when that was done the companies were awash with money. I usually had no trouble visualizing the objectives in 3D but sometimes, for complex geology such as in thrust belts, I would take orthogonal cross sections and make 3D displays or take a map on tops and run rods through it to warp it to the right surface configuration so management could understand.