Revolutionising Farm Safety: Esitu Solutions Partners with Nottingham Trent University on Virtual Reality Hazard Perception Tool for Agricultural Vehicle Drivers

Whilst extensive research exists for hazard skills in car drivers and other road-user groups, agricultural vehicle drivers, including those operating tractors, ATVs, and combine harvesters, have been overlooked. We know that farming is a high-risk industry with more fatalities and injuries than many other professions. But did you know that in 2022 there were almost as many deaths on the road involving tractors, as there were fatalities on farms? These on-road collisions are not counted in on-farm fatality statistics, and do not appear to be a focus for the Government. However, with suitable training and self-assessment materials, we know that drivers can improve their awareness of on-road hazards and reduce their crash risk. Isn’t it about time that agricultural drivers had access to the same level of training resources as drivers of other vehicles?

In an effort to address this gap, the project begins by filming from tractors while driving on real roads using a specialised 360-degree camera. The camera will be strategically positioned to capture the driver’s perspective from the elevated position of the tractor, enabling the recording of various hazards faced by tractor drivers, while also capturing the responses of other road users to tractors.

This footage will then be edited and insights from a tractor driver survey will be used to select the most appropriate content for the clips. Once edited, this footage will be put into VR headsets and tractor drivers will be recruited to complete the immersive hazard assessment.

The team will then undertake research to assess the effectiveness of the test at tapping into s r skills. If successful, the test and associated training materials will be made available to agricultural training centres throughout the country.

Esitu Solutions is proud to be supporting NTU with the research and development of this project and we will be sharing updates of the projects progress throughout the year.

The team are currently looking for potential partners to assist with the filming and validation of the content, so please get in touch with them if you can offer support for this exciting project.