A British farm safety charity has been given £10,000 from the National Lottery fund to launch a VR training programme.
The Farm Safety Foundation (FSF) has trained 10,000 agricultural students and young farmers at 41 different land-based colleges and universities throughout the UK since 2015. The funding boost will allow them to incorporate VR and AR into its training.
“To deliver training that may actually save lives and limbs in the future makes it even more important,” FSF said in a statement. “Imagine future farmers viewing a working farm and its real risks from all angles without leaving the classroom.”
British farming is one of the most dangerous industries to work in. A study by the BBC last year said that around 360,000 people work in agriculture, or 1% of the total workforce, yet the sector was liable for 20% of all fatal accidents at work.
“For a generation raised on interactive technologies, we really believe that bringing VR into learning can help encourage active engagement and contribute to delivering our key farm safety messages,” FSF added.