Page 158 - Kaleidoscope Academic Conference Proceedings 2020

2020 ITU Kaleidoscope Academic Conference

the way we interact with digital content and driving Simulations used to train operators can decrease training
st
innovation in the 21 century. These technologies can costs associated with new staff. A study by Meusel et al. [22]
support a conducive agricultural environment within the reinforces the argument for a VR combine simulator as a
existing constraints and realities [4].sound method for
administering operator studies outside of a real combine. 2.2.3 Agritourism and Virtual Tours

2.2 Trend of Immersive Technologies in Agriculture Virtual tours make it possible for people to visit faraway
locations without having to leave their homes. With the
Researchers have explored the benefits and applications of current challenges posed by the pandemic [3] and increasing
immersive technologies in different domains, such as interest in agritourism, virtual tours have become a new
healthcare [11] and agriculture [4], among others. Immersive avenue that enables people to visit places of interest without
technologies in agriculture (AVR-Agric) span several endangering their lives and saving on travel costs. ARtour is
aspects of the sector such as soil analysis [12], precision an application by Garzón et al. [14], which merges an AR
farming [13], and tourism [14], among others. The following experience with two learning scenarios to teach agritourism
section highlights some of the research conducted on AVR- and promote environmental responsibility to tourists. The
Agric. We grouped the studies according to relevant themes. education and popularization of Chinese traditional farming
This is, however, not exhaustive due to space constraints. culture have also been virtualized in an interactive VR
simulation [23]. Whereas, Yang et al. [24] proved that when
2.2.1 Agricultural Education and Training their VR museum was compared to the China Agricultural
Digital Museum, their system had an improved effect on
Small and large scale farmers can use AVR-Agric for practicability, instructiveness, authenticity, and amusement.
training, to address the labor shortage and improve workers’ Kim et al. [25] conducted a survey where the team
skills. This can eliminate fatalities for inexperienced workers investigated the use of AVR with drone technologies. The
or learners and reduce the cost of expensive farm equipment. focus was on the creation of aerial immersive content that
The research conducted in [15] and [16] considered the would allow clients to virtually visit locations. We see more
application of the technologies for training users on evidence of adoption of VR in an analysis by Martins et al.
designing and maintaining farm equipment, where a user can [26], which argues that with the rising acceptance and usage
be taken through a stepwise procedure to determine a fault of virtual reality, there is a gap in the market and academic
and guided on how to fix the problem. Eichhorst et al. [17] research needs to explore virtual ecotourism concepts.
confirm that more research can also be done on training
processes in various industries. Haroon et al. [18] explored 2.2.4 Diseases and Pest Management
how to use VR to improve pedagogy by training students
with limited or no access to farmland to grow maize. They Immersive technology could help train farmers on disease
used multimedia learning theory to develop a system that outbreak and harmful insect identification. Nigam et al. [4]
embeds text, sound, images, and animations to deliver developed a prototype that uses AR to educate farmers on
relevant content to learners. An evaluation was conducted pest management and insect identification. AVR-Agric can
using a survey to understand and reflect on learners’ inform farmers on necessary measures [6] to take regarding
experiences while using the system. Authors in [19] potential pests and diseases, amongst others. AR can further
developed a tractor-based VR mobile application for learners reduce costs by informing (unskilled) farmers about specific
at an agricultural training institution, to be used as a distance requirements such as water needs, soil [12], fertilizer needs,
learning tool. The tractor application helps with breaking safe harvesting periods, to mention a few, for a specific crop.
apart a tractor model and engine, to explore it and learn about
component names and their functions. 2.2.5 Livestock and Crop Tracking

2.2.2 Health and Safety on Farm Machinery Tracking the state and health of plants and livestock to assist
in crop cultivation and disease identification is a vital part of
Operating heavy and complex machinery such as tractors farm management. The ability to visualize real-time
and combines requires an increased degree of awareness information on crops and livestock on a mobile device allows
when utilizing these machines as incorrect usage could result farmers and farm managers to proactively react to changes in
in injury [20], [21]. With AVR-Agric, inexperienced information [27]. Creating AR applications to visualize
workers can get in-depth step-by-step instructions on more crops [5] from a mobile device, and using smart glasses to
complex tasks used to operate complex machinery [19], [20]. track plants and animals on the farm is important for farmers.
A study by Wallmyr et al. shows that using mixed reality To give fundamental soil condition visualization and
displays in industrial vehicles made the users more reactive comparing planting proposals to help farmers to settle on
better choices for crop planting, authors in [6] also developed
This is important because accidents involving tractors an AR application that works together with glasses.
overturning are a major cause of deaths in agriculture. Rudowicz et al. [28] created an AR application to monitor
Gonzalez et al. [21] developed a tractor driving simulation cattle, similar to an AR-GPS system-based mobile
using immersive VR to train drivers on using foldable roll- application in [29], which allows users to view details about
over protective structures to decrease the risk of overturning. specific cows on their mobile devices. The results of an

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