Virtual reality-based digital twins for greenhouses: A focus on human interaction

The agricultural domain is experiencing an increasing use of digital twin technologies in greenhouse horticulture for the betterment of monitoring production. Research in this domain has started leading towards more advanced ways of visually interacting with these digital twins, and this could be by means of immersive technologies (such as virtual reality) to better allow farmers to feel a sense of presence when exploring these digital copies. Yet there are many remaining challenges for the technology’s integration and more studies are needed into user interaction; specifically regarding simulation sickness to cater for comfort during prolonged and regular use. Thus, this article documents the survey of 30 participants by means of the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (before and after interaction) when using an immersive digital greenhouse twin environment. Findings indicate that users who experience simulation sickness tend to provide a lower evaluation score of the digital twin and their prior experience of gaming (on varied devices) affects the overall evaluation of the digital environment. Further, the level of playability and realism (referred to as convenience), statistically affects the end users’ level of sickness. For tracking crop growth by means of digital greenhouse twins, where prolonged user interaction may take place in a virtual environment, these are notable considerations for digital twin developers.