Enhanced forest inventory practice using immersive visualisation and measurement of dense point cloud data

Rapid developments in VR (Virtual Reality) technology make it timely to explore the potential of advanced 3D visualisation to support forest inventory. The emergence of promising segmentation algorithms and software increasingly make it possible to extract stems and stem measurements from dense point cloud data. VR offers the potential for field staff to transfer their skills to within a 3D and 1:1 scaled immersive environment and to use natural interface functionality to measure tree dimensions within a point cloud dataset.

The goal of this research was to develop methods and workflows to support VR visualisation and measurement of plot-level point-cloud data in plantation forests and to assess the potential of VR tools and very high-resolution point cloud data to replace current forest inventory fieldwork practices.

In a pilot project, conducted as part of a previous FWPA Research Project (FWPA PNC326-1314), dense point cloud data from a pre-harvest Pinus radiata inventory plot, together with the output from two stem segmentation algorithms, was successfully imported into an immersive VR environment.

Broadly, the research question addressed by this project has been: Can forestry field operators perform tree stem assessments using remotely acquired dense point cloud data in an immersive VR environment?