Immersive Interactive Technology: a Case Study of a Wine Farm

Immersive technologies have paved a unique way of performing agricultural activities as well as learning and interacting with 3D content, among others. Moreover, the current situation from the COVID-19 pandemic has further created the need to develop solutions that can help the agriculture industry to stay relevant and ahead of potential post-COVID-19 challenges. This paper presents an immersive virtual reality application using a wine farm as a case study. The developed farm marketing application used participatory design and SCRUM methodology to showcase a wine farm and the wine production process. The application provides a virtual walk-through of the vineyards (lookout point), the lodge, the community garden, the conference facilities, as well as the cellar in 3D 360-degree rendering. Current basic 360-degree exploration applications exist but none have incorporated 3D 360-degree exploration as presented in the current research. The immersive experience provides a more realistic experience and feel of what is available on the farm. Results and feedback confirm that the farm marketing application shows promise in promoting wine farm marketing and other farm offerings.