Immersive Technology Workshops and Demonstrations
The Ag Innovation Expo, run each year during the Easter school holidays at Hagley Farm School, is a unique opportunity for students in Years 9 to 12 to hear from industry experts and deep dive into different career pathways within the agricultural industry.
Over the 2 days, students participate in a variety of activities learning about biosecurity, pasture science, spatial data mapping, egg production and immersive technologies. Over dinner students also had the opportunity to hear from another young industry professional, Gabbie Horton, and the journey she has taken through agriculture so far.
Jess from the Think Digital team visited Hagley for the 2 days and ran workshops with the attending students and educators. The students learned the basics of virtual and augmented reality in agriculture, its current applications and future uses, how these technologies can help the agriculture industry, and all about 360 photography, before grabbing a camera and heading out onto the farm.
Students captured a variety of 360° images of animals and machinery, and gained an understanding of how these cameras worked, experimenting with different techniques such as camera positioning, subject distance and height.
After capturing these images, students headed back into the classroom to create an immersive virtual tour of Hagley Farm School using the VRTY virtual tour creation tool.
Students experimented adding interactivity to their 360° photos, such as pop up facts, images, and videos. With the freedom to create their own immersive content, they used higher order thinking and produced some fantastic virtual farm tours. Click here to view a virtual tour one student created during the workshop.
On Thursday students were welcomed back along with other attendees to engage with industry exhibitors. These exhibits included many farm machinery providers, scientific experiments by the University of Tasmania, and mental health support with Rural Alive & Well. Think Digital immersed attendees in augmented reality agricultural experiences, where they interacted with 3D carcasses and a dairy cow.
When engaging with augmented reality, users view digital content overlaid on the real world. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as using a mobile phone camera, or augmented reality wearable technology like a Hololens 2.
Using hand gestures to pick up digital content, shrink and expand it, or move it around in a three dimensional space, allowed visitors to our stand to experience the power of augmented reality in agriculture. Augmented reality wearables allow the user to use both of their hands instead of traditional controllers. Having the ability to see the digital content superimposed on top of the real world and not being confined to a virtual play area creates a much more immersive and practical experience.
Learn more about augmented reality in agriculture here.
