BRINGING agricultural experiences to students through virtual reality (VR) is an idea that’s got the Royal Agricultural Society of WA (RAS) pretty excited.
At the recent IGA Perth Royal Show, Farm VR’s Tim Gentle was demonstrating his virtual reality agriculture experience and filming new content, all aimed at teaching children and young people about farming.
“The idea behind Farm VR is to try to get kids interested in agriculture as a career option,” Mr Gentle said.
“We’ve aligned a lot of the experiences with school curriculums and so far the responses we’ve had from teachers have been fantastic.
“So yes, we could have done this the traditional way, but we want to try and engage the next generation by embracing the latest technology, using 360 degree cameras.
“And the options are endless – we can fly the viewer over a crop or send them swimming with salmon or walking through a feedlot, and then put them into the actual experience so it feels like the viewer is there.
“Basically VR gives the viewer another perspective which is a point of difference that sets the idea apart from other video training experiences.”
RAS councillor Deane Allen said RAS wanted to create some new training videos at this year’s show, including meat sheep, Merino, beef cattle and wool judging tutorials.
“And by collaborating with Farm VR, we can deliver the experience in a new and interactive way that is more engaging for students,” Mr Allen said.
Mr Allen said the idea was fantastic because students such as the junior judges at this year’s IGA Perth Royal Show could take home training videos recorded by over judges giving tips in a more immersive experience.
“Technology is a wonderful thing,” he said.
“It’ll be exciting to see what happens in this space in the long term so the RAS wanted to be on the front foot, embracing the possibilities that come with things like virtual reality.
“In the future we’ll be looking to big agricultural organisations for funding, but at the moment we’re just taking the initial steps,” Mr Allen said.