Embracing VR in thinning training

One of the highlights for the Precision Silviculture Programme team is seeing a project grow from ‘just an idea’ to being used by real people in the field.  One such project is the Virtual Reality Thinning Training Tool, developed in partnership with the Bioeconomy Sciences Institute.

This work has been a labour of love for project lead Elizaveta Graevskaya, who notes that while the tool is “not intended as a replacement for real-world forest experience or self-directed learning, serves as a powerful complement to existing training methods, allowing trainers to guide trainees through various scenarios and decision-making processes in a risk-free setting that maximises learning efficiency and engagement”.

The current version includes two scenes. The first is a defect library, where trainees learn to identify different tree defects. Once they have explained their understanding to the trainer, they move into the forest scene. This scene presents 100 trees with a set percentage of defects.

Using a laser pointer, the trainee selects and removes defective trees. At present, the experience is designed to be used by a trainee alongside a trainer, with the trainee talking through their decisions as they go. In future, the team aims to further develop the experience, so it is more self-directed, with guidance built into the simulation itself.

The experience is delivered on a Meta Quest 3 headset, which runs as a standalone device without needing to be connected to a computer. This allows users to move freely and makes the training more accessible in real-world settings, such as the forest environment where Matariki Forest recently delivered the first official training with the headset.

Matariki Forests are the cornerstone collaboration partner for this project, particularly Quality Manager Fraser Field. From initial feedback on the look and feel of the tool, to tree design and now to delivering training in the field, Fraser has been instrumental in shaping this tool.

The training was also delivered in April to NZ Diploma Forest Management students led by James Broadley, with Fraser, Elizaveta and PSP Programme Manager Claire Stewart presenting. James sees value not only in the current experience but in the expansion of using virtual reality to bring to life a range of training experience.

“The tree selection training offers an ideal way to learn and practise selecting trees for silviculture operations—such as pruning, thinning, and more—in a completely risk-free environment. NZ Diploma in Forest Management students were able to use the Meta Quest headsets for hands-on experience in a virtual reality forest, and then apply those skills in Kaingaroa Forest, where they carried out height measurement, pre-assessment, and quality control for pruning and thinning in value plots.”

By providing an immersive, repeatable training environment, the VR thinning tool delivers clear value by strengthening decision‑making capability while reducing training time, cost, and exposure to operational risk. The project team have also connected with Australian forestry and university partners, also building virtual training experiences, to find areas of opportunity for collaborative projects.

Source & image credit: Forest Growers Research (FGR)