The ARiF COST action focuses on the use of digital data and augmented reality (AR) to transform the forestry sector. The aim is to create a network of experts and industry partners who will collaborate on technology development and data standardisation so that AR can be effectively implemented in the forestry sector across Europe.
Digital transformation is fundamentally changing the forestry sector, improving applications from remote sensing to Industry 4.0. A lot of data is being collected, but applications for its effective use and coordinated research are missing. Augmented Reality (AR) connects digital elements with the real world and is key for visualisation and interaction with data. AR can transform forestry practices but faces challenges such as unreliable network coverage and the need for robust devices. The European forestry sector needs region-specific AR solutions and data standardisation. The communication gap between scientists and users requires user-friendly translation of information.
The COST Action will run for four years. The coordinator is the Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg. The Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences of the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague is one of the partners.
The investigator for FLD is Ing. Ondřej Nuhlíček, Ph.D., who became the leader of one of the six working groups. He will lead working group WG4 – Object identification in forests. This group is focused on the identification and classification of objects - forest roads, terrain, tree canopy, etc. so that individual types can be displayed in AR according to the needs of individuals. The main objective of WG4 is to compile and analyze current methods and algorithms used to classify both point clouds and digital photographs and to identify their general strengths and weaknesses for use in forestry. Subsequently, a benchmarking test setup and routine for different forestry-oriented use cases should be developed so that each method can be objectively evaluated and emerging methods can be easily compared with existing ones.