VR Training Tool Enhances Forestry Decision-Making

Scion, a New Zealand-based research institute, has developed an interactive virtual reality (VR) training tool designed to enhance forestry worker training. As part of the Virtual Thinning project funded by Forest Growers Research’s Precision Silviculture Programme, the tool offers a realistic simulation of New Zealand’s production forests, using physiological-based models of Pinus radiata (Radiata Pine).

This new tool allows recruits to make critical thinning decisions in a virtual environment. Users wear a VR headset that places them in the middle of a computer-generated forest, simulating realistic scenarios without the need for on-site training. Trainers can observe and guide trainees remotely, making the process logistically efficient and reducing the risk of errors in real-world forestry settings.

The VR tool offers customization options for industry-specific training, allowing variables like tree species, age, and stocking rates to be adjusted. These features enable the simulation of diverse scenarios that can help improve decision-making and forest management practices. Scion has also identified the potential to integrate the tool with additional software, such as geographic information systems (GIS), to enhance its capabilities.

Scion forest management scientist Lania Holt says Scion is now working with industry to ensure the tool can reflect their forests. “Companies are looking for realistic scenarios. Ultimately where they want to go is to take the prototype and combine assets with industry in a way that depicts the forest based on their data,” said Holt.

The VR training tool has the potential to improve thinning practices, enhance safety, and provide a broader range of training scenarios than those typically available in accessible forests. As industry leaders engage with the prototype, additional applications are being explored, including future developments in teleoperation and further digitization of forestry tasks.

Scion portfolio leader Grant Evans says the tool combines science, technology and gamification.

“We’re using fundamental science – what we know about the physiology of the trees – with VR technology and gamification which is making it more engaging,” he said. “This simulation is based on real-world attributes and we’re able to generate scenarios that really enhance first stage training or decision making."