This post was originally published in Visartech Blog
Virtual training is already a reality
To start a small-scale farm, you need at least 5 people. And the bigger the farm, the more people are involved. With innovative farm technologies — the staff needs complex training. Virtual training allows you to optimize the solution to this issue. Such training costs much less.
Modern equipment is not cheap. As unskilled workers may cause a malfunction or get an injury, virtual training allows you to avoid such situations. A new employee can work out certain scenarios in the game mode, train their skills to automatism, and after that start working with real technology.
Read also: How to Prepare and Guide Employees for VR Training?
Virtual training recreates a real working environment. An employee can carry out pre-planting field processing or harvesting. He or she executes the given scenarios and receives a certain number of points. After completing the task, the points are summed up, and the employee obtains a qualification mark. If something does not work out from the first try, you can always “replay”.
It is necessary to train muscle memory, which works better than pure knowledge in extreme situations. The muscle memory is working out a reflex, and thus way more increases the efficiency of work.
Of course, there are video training or personal trainers. But in the first case, there is only a possibility to watch and it’s boring, and personal trainers are expensive and can not deal with several people at the same time.
The augmented reality saves money on using the plants' protection tools
When you are aware of pests and diseases, as well as of the means to be used, it allows you to make an operational decision to save the crop and reduce costs.
You can conduct a survey of the field using virtual reality. It is easier for farmers to determine the quality of the soil, to pick up the appropriate crops, and effectively use the soil potential for crop production.
How is it implemented? Sensors are being installed in the field, and they scan the crop. An agronomist only needs to bring a tablet or a smartphone to the plant, and he/she receives information about the weather, temperature, plant health, fertilizer needs, and the date of harvesting.
How does the augmented reality works in this case?
There are two options of the augmented reality implementation:
- special glasses;
- smartphone and tablet.
Some smartphones have two cameras: one transmits thermal images, and the other is volumetric. Sensors that transmit information to the camera are installed in the ground. The camera reads the data and displays pop-ups on the screen. The smartphone and sensors are all the equipment you need to implement the technology. In addition, these sensors are quite inexpensive.
More about the world’s best cases
The first case is the Isabel project in San Francisco. It’s a stand-alone mobile application, which manages a 177-hectare hydroponic farm. They worked in the social sector, so the local budget is fully paid for the project. We were training staff and then completely automated the farm.
After succeeding in San Francisco, the project moved to Peru. It turned into a full-fledged helper application that fully manages the greenhouse. There are timings, video tutorials, as well as automated fertilization and watering in the application.
Read also: Virtual Reality Simulations to Elevate Training: 5 Industries That Benefit
The second case is Plant Vision from Huxley. This case works with artificial intelligence and fully automates the process: from fertilization to harvesting. The application contains timings, temperature data, plant health checks, current tasks to be performed.
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