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Virtual reality in Australia’s egg industry aids biosecurity and more
110 Plays5 days ago
Tim Gentle, founder of immersive technology studio Think.Digital, details the virtual reality training biosecurity program developed by Think.Digital for the Australian egg industry, along with further projects the studio has implemented to support the poultry industry.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Future of Poultry Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Future of Poultry podcast series.
VR Biosecurity Training for Australian Eggs
00:00:13
Speaker
I'm Mark Clemens, Editor-in-Chief Poultry with World Global Media. A little earlier this year, I came across a virtual reality biosecurity training tool that had been developed by immersive technology company Think Digital. It was created at the request of industry body Australian eggs. and We all know that biosecurity is important for a whole variety of reasons, but in the case of Australia,
00:00:36
Speaker
It's the only continent that remains free from highly pathogenic avian influenza. That doesn't mean, of course, that there's not concern that it may reach Australian
Interview with Tim Gentle on VR Innovation
00:00:45
Speaker
shores. And so it's little surprise that Australian eggs is helping its members to protect their farms. Now, the tool that I mentioned and the company that developed it think digital. The company was founded by Tim Gentle, himself an ex chicken keeper. And he joins us today to tell us a little more about this novel training tool.
00:01:04
Speaker
Tim, welcome. Delighted that you could join us today. I am very glad to be here. It is excellent. So, Tim, you've developed this this rather wonderful virtual reality training program. but But first, could you tell us how working with Australian eggs came about and and exactly what they wanted?
00:01:25
Speaker
Well, the big thing, Mark, is to innovate training because, you know, what is training these days? Sometimes it's some online slides or a video or a brochure. So Australian eggs just kind of wanted to push the boundary a bit. So they approached us because they knew that we're innovating training using VR and AR, virtual reality and augmented reality.
00:01:49
Speaker
And so they posed the question, how how could we use this technology to innovate the training? And hence the the virtual tour was born. And so then we worked with them to use the technique technology to upskill producers on biosecurity and how to increase, I guess, the way they protect their farms from ah from biosecurity breaches.
Fast-Tracking Training with VR and AR Technology
00:02:12
Speaker
The program's aimed at a particular group of workers, which is which is new starters, I believe. Why has there been such a focus on them? Traditionally, when you have new people start on your farm, they're put through an induction process or a training process. And this would traditionally probably be sitting in the tea room or being a PowerPoint delivery or even just a farm walk. So what they wanted to do is they wanted to build the capacity faster.
00:02:42
Speaker
So get them engaged in the training, get them learning different skills quicker, but they also wanted to broaden the reach actually marked into training organisations that prepared skill workers for the industry as well. So it's not just the egg producers that we were targeting, it was training courses or training, we call them TAFEs here in Australia, but organisations that provide training for new people So when they get out to industry, they're a lot more aware of the biosecurity issues. And then when they do their formal training, they're going to hit the ground running a lot quicker. You mentioned that Australia next wanted to break boundaries, but could you not have got the message across? Let's say we're just a simple video. What but mean what what what are the advantages of a video?
00:03:30
Speaker
Well, we've had a history with Australian eggs. This isn't our first rodeo, so to speak with them. In fact, we produced a fully interactive virtual reality training where they put on a VR ah headset.
00:03:44
Speaker
And they actually went to a computer-based farm and they performed certain duties to increase their awareness of biosecurity. So they would you know go into certain locations, they would spot certain issues, and they're wearing the VR ah headset.
00:04:03
Speaker
What we did find, though, is that it only had so much capacity in terms of the reach, because people don't all have VR headsets. So they approached us, and they said, what can we do in a web-based world? What can we do online? And we suggested for them to create a virtual tour, which is like a Google Street tour. We can move through a facility using our mouse and keyboard, and we can interact with the environment So yes, why didn't we just do a simple video? Well, we did. We incorporated simple videos, but we put them into an interactive environment where the person can actually do both. So they watch traditional 2D videos, but then they perform a quiz or some sort of interactive experience where they reinforce the learning.
Engaging Learners with Interactive Tools
00:04:52
Speaker
What's interesting, Mark, and I know you've played around with the tool. I mean, you could probably tell me a little bit when you were playing around with the tool, did you get distracted by your emails or look at your text messages or, you know, just tell me a little bit about your... No, absolutely. I mean, I found it i it absolutely fascinating. I mean, I think I'm probably a VR novice, but I find it hugely interesting moving around within the virtual environment. But I was going to ask you,
00:05:22
Speaker
How long did it take you to go out and and shoot everything that you needed and then edit it into this, yeah like I said at the beginning, quite amazing final product? Well, just to recap on what you just said then, though you found it amazing to go into the experience and you're encapsulated by that.
00:05:41
Speaker
that's the That's the golden ticket. See, when you can get the learner fully engaged, they're going to learn a lot lot more and they're not going to be distracted. So that's what we've found with virtual reality or this clickable virtual tour. People actually don't get as distracted. So you kind of suck them in and they don't get distracted by the digital world, so to speak. and they And then they go in and they learn a lot more because they're so focused.
00:06:07
Speaker
But in terms of producing it, I'll be honest, Mark, we were able to shoot that in two days. So we're able to go out to property and and get the various shots. And then the videos themselves, the 2D videos, um some of them were already produced and supplied by the client. That's what I quite like about this tool, Mark. We can repurpose existing assets so we don't have to go and record all new training videos. If you've already got them, we can repurpose them and put them into the virtual tour.
Creating the VR Tool: Challenges and Storyboarding
00:06:38
Speaker
um And then to build it, so the first thing we call is, you know, going and filming. But before the filming, we storyboard and we talk about what are the learning objectives that we want the person to experience. So well before you push record on a camera, you've got to storyboard it. And then once you've filmed it,
00:06:58
Speaker
then you've got to do post-production which is the development and the construction and look that'll take somewhere between four to six weeks and that's including client feedback loops so we get the client to have a look at it and make sure they're happy with the journey and then we have to do some user testing and we have to sort of make sure it actually works so we we get some people that haven't seen the tool and if we get them to interact with it and and then we have to tweak it And then after that, we publish it and we often do a social video, which I know you're going to make available to your listeners. That's always good for to do, to reflect. So I would say end to end Mark, um including storyboarding. It's about a two month project. And whilst you were on the farm, did you encounter any particular difficulties? Well, yes, there are some difficulties, but nothing we can't overcome. So let's just talk about a few of those.
00:07:51
Speaker
So one of them is that the the chickens are quite curious, aren't they? I mean, I love chickens, right? So we know this. So if you put a 360 camera there, um which is the camera that I use to take these photos, Mark, just to break down what a 360 camera is, it has six lenses. So, you know, when you take a traditional photo, you would stand behind the camera, wouldn't you? And and put and click it. So on our phone or or or an older card on camera.
00:08:21
Speaker
Well, this has six cameras, so you can't stand behind the camera because what would happen if you were out there, Mark? What do you think? You're going to interrupt the view of the lens, I'm guessing. That's right, because if they spin around, you're going to be in the shot. So you have to you have to position the camera and then you have to go hide. Now, I used to, you know, I find little spots to hide and I hide behind bushes if I'm doing sort of free range or, you know, I might hide behind a piece of equipment.
00:08:50
Speaker
depending on what I'm taking. But when I was out doing the free range, when I ran away from the camera and then to get ready, all the chickens followed me and gave away my hiding spot. That was a bit of fun. The other one I did have a little bit of trouble with was the, at the back, at the back door where they remove, what do they call it where you remove the, you know, all the dung and and and all the, they'd load it in the back of the truck.
00:09:19
Speaker
When I was filming that the wind was blowing and I must admit I got a fair bit of dust and and dirt on my camera so that that was an interesting one. um but look We're pretty particular. We've done this for years. We were so thrilled that we were working with Dayseggs who already had a lot of biosecurity measures in place. It didn't require me to say, oh, can we make sure the footpath is in place? Can we make sure you've got a sign up? Can we make sure you've got the hose there to wash the car or wash the truck?
AI in Agriculture: From Cattle to Poultry
00:09:50
Speaker
They had everything. So they were such a great partner to work with.
00:09:53
Speaker
Beyond your work with AustralianX, you've been working on an an AI for disease detection in cattle and I understand that this could be applied to poultry in the future. Are are you able to share anything about that with us?
00:10:08
Speaker
Well, if we break down what AI is, AI has the ability to remember what it saw. And so, yes, when we're dealing dealing with the cattle disease, we're feeding a computer different photos of diseases. And then the camera, um you know, we take a photo of the particular saw on like on on the cattle.
00:10:31
Speaker
And then we feed that to the AI model and the AI model learns what it's looking at. And if you show that photo a thousand times, different types of photos of the same disease, the computer starts to recognize it. And so AI is a brilliant tool to train up a model to recognize diseases. And so we've managed to do that with cattle on some of the more exotic diseases that we don't want here in Australia.
00:10:59
Speaker
So we've had to go and get photos of cattle in different spots of the world. And then we're hoping that when someone in Australia takes a photo of a cattle, these diseases don't come up. So in terms of how that technology would work in poultry, well, it could recognize the size of an egg. It could recognize some sort of blemish or some sort of disease on the beak or eye or feet or wings of a bird.
00:11:27
Speaker
Tell me a little bit, Mark, but large egg layers. they Do they have like security cameras and and and cameras watching? I assume they would in inside of the... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think... Increasingly so. Yeah, well, Mark, I think where it would really work well in the poultry industry is to to access that live feed.
00:11:48
Speaker
of the of the chickens and then maybe it would watch their behaviour, maybe if they're not walking around or if they're limping or I'm not sure what sort of signs or symptoms. Sure, there are certainly lots of developments in that area and and and not just video or audio. Ah, nice.
00:12:08
Speaker
Yeah, so AI is ah is ah an incredibly powerful tool that can obviously help not replace but supplement the human vet and the people that observe in, I guess, in the poultry industry, people that observe chickens and identify if there's any issues within the flock. But if they can single out certain, you know, birds that potentially have a disease.
VR Classroom on Wheels: Think Digital's Bus
00:12:30
Speaker
I heard it think Digital won a bus and turned it into a VR ah classroom.
00:12:36
Speaker
and Tim, tell me what's the story behind that? Well, Mark, the interesting thing was there was a competition on Facebook that said, what would you do if you won a bus? And I read this post and I'm thinking and i'm thinking that that that can't be right. But you had to put an entry in and it had to be within 25 words or less.
00:12:58
Speaker
And I'll be honest, my original entry mark was to create a mobile chicken barn where they would climb aboard the bus at the end of the night, then you would move the bus, and then they would climb out at the end of the day. In fact, a few people do that, don't they, around the world? But I ended up putting another entry in, and this entry was to convert it into a classroom.
00:13:23
Speaker
and travel throughout regional, rural and remote Australia, educating people about the digital world. I sat back and, Mark, ah two months later, they gave me a call and they said, Tim, you you won the competition. Come and come and collect your bus. Good for you. That's a 15 metre bus, Mark. it's ah It's huge. It's got 20 headsets. It travels throughout Australia.
00:13:48
Speaker
and people jump on board the bus and they're immersed in the digital world to learn about how food is produced. And so far we've had over 150,000 people on board the bus over about
Future Plans: Immersive Training and Poultry Careers
00:13:59
Speaker
an eight year period. So it's been a big success. Brilliant. Now, Tim, what's next for Think Digital? Tell me.
00:14:07
Speaker
Well, the big thing for us at the moment is to create more immersive training to teach people tactile things that they can do to improve safety on farms. So we're getting we're getting some business there. But the other one that we're very interested in doing is we've just launched our first product to the market. And this one's called cattle VR. And it teaches people how to move cattle around the yard without being kicked or without getting into the distance.
00:14:34
Speaker
And so Cattle VR has been born and we're really excited about that. When it comes to working with the poultry industry, we believe that biosecurity is where the training is. And so we're really nailing that and we're going to hone down further on that particular interest. But we just created careers in the poultry. And so we've just launched that.
00:14:56
Speaker
And we went around to a a large chicken farm here in Australia. We filmed and met a lot of different people in the industry. And so now we have a careers piece for students students in schools to consider moving over into the industry.
Tim Gentle's Vision for the Poultry Industry
00:15:11
Speaker
Tim, thank you so much for joining us today and for explaining the virtual reality training tool to us. And fascinating to learn about Think Digital's other work. I'd love to come back and talk to you again about that.
00:15:26
Speaker
last careers training project that you mentioned. Thanks audience for joining the podcast. You can view the virtual reality training tool on the Australian eggs website. Tim, thank you again. Thanks Mark. I hope in some way we're doing our bit to attract people into the industry and to train them up and to keep them industry to help the poultry industry grow across the world.