Connecting virtual reality and ecology: a new tool to run seamless immersive experiments in R

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) technology is an emerging tool that is supporting the connection between conservation research and public engagement with environmental issues. The use of VR in ecology consists of interviewing diverse groups of people while they are immersed within a virtual ecosystem to produce better information than more traditional surveys. However, at present, the relatively high level of expertise in specific programming languages and disjoint pathways required to run VR experiments hinder their wider application in ecology and other sciences. We present R2VR, a package for implementing and performing VR experiments in R with the aim of easing the learning curve for applied scientists including ecologists. The package provides functions for rendering VR scenes on web browsers with A-Frame that can be viewed by multiple users on smartphones, laptops, and VR headsets. It also provides instructions on how to retrieve answers from an online database in R. Three published ecological case studies are used to illustrate the R2VR workflow, and show how to run a VR experiments and collect the resulting datasets. By tapping into the popularity of R among ecologists, the R2VR package creates new opportunities to address the complex challenges associated with conservation, improve scientific knowledge, and promote new ways to share better understanding of environmental issues. The package could also be used in other fields outside of ecology.

Being Bayesian in the 2020s: opportunities and challenges in the practice of modern applied Bayesian statistics

“…There is value in protecting beautiful landscapes, as tourism in Antarctica is based largely on the natural beauty of the environment. This case study quantifies aesthetic values in the Antarctic Peninsula by recording elicitation from subjects immersed in a VR environment using a state-of-the-art web-based framework R2VR [ 32 ].…”

Upaya Meningkatkan Pengunjung Website Kelompok Pemuda Rw 049 Pogung Kidul Dengan Cross-Platform

“…Selain observasi, pengabdi juga membaca literatur terkait fungsi smartphone yang banyak digunakan di masyarakat jaman sekarang. Masyarakat dapat menggunakan smartphone untuk berbelanja [11], bersosial media [12], survey kesehatan [13], belajar [14], [15], penyebaran dan verifikasi infomasi [16], dll.…”

Development of Web-Based Virtual Reality as Media Learning for Baluran Conservation Area with Geographical Characteristics

“…In this regard, the phenomena that occur in conservation areas need to be studied geographically [21]. The use of M-VFTs can provide spatial understanding to students [22] while minimizing deficiencies in conservation learning activities [23,24]. In addition, the media has the potential to assist students in studying geological processes [25], ecological processes [2,23], and environmental concepts (ecosystem, biodiversity, and environment) [26].…”