Learning Sustainable Locust Control Methods in Virtual Reality

Abstract

Invasion of locust swarms has affected the crops in many countries in Africa and Asia, which is a significant threat to food security. Therefore, different approaches are adopted to monitor and control the locust swarms to save the crops. Furthermore, it has been proved in various studies that technology can help in agriculture through drones, real-time data monitoring, or teaching the farmers with the latest tools. Following the UN sustainability goals for food security, this research has presented a Virtual Reality(VR) based educational application to teach sustainable locust management strategies. Using hand tracking technology in the Oculus Quest lets users learn how farmers can deal with locusts without pesticides. Based on a storytelling approach, the methods presented are profitable for the farmers and free of any harm to crops regarding food security. This application can help motivate the adoption of these sustainable locust control strategies in broader interventions for environmental recovery.