scholarly journals Virtual farm tours—Virtual reality glasses and tablets are suitable tools to provide insights into pig husbandry

PLoS ONE ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. e0261248
Author(s):  
Aurelia Schütz ◽  
Katharina Kurz ◽  
Gesa Busch

Apart from improving husbandry conditions and animal welfare, there is a clear public demand to increase transparency in agricultural activities. Personal farm tours have shown to be appreciated by citizens but are limited in their impact because of hygiene requirements and accessibility. Virtual farm tours are a promising approach to overcome these limitations but evidence on their perceptions is missing. This study analyzes how a virtual farm tour is perceived by showing participants (n = 17) a 360-degree video of a conventional pig fattening pen on a tablet and via virtual reality (VR) glasses. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted to analyze perceptions and level of immersion and to elicit differences between media devices. Participants’ perception of the pig fattening pen was rather poor and depended on the recording perspective as well as on the media device. However, housing conditions were perceived more positively compared to the image participants had in mind prior to the study, and thus the stable was considered as a rather positive example. Participants described virtual farm tours as suitable tool to improve transparency and information transfer and to gain insights into husbandry conditions. They appreciated the comfortable and entertaining character of both media devices and named various possibilities for implementation. However, VR glasses were favored regarding the higher realistic and entertaining value, while the tablet was considered beneficial in terms of usability. The presentation of video sequences without additional explanations about the farm or the housing conditions were claimed insufficient to give an adequate understanding of the seen content.

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 205630512110213
Author(s):  
Brooke Erin Duffy ◽  
Annika Pinch ◽  
Shruti Sannon ◽  
Megan Sawey

While metrics have long played an important, albeit fraught, role in the media and cultural industries, quantified indices of online visibility—likes, favorites, subscribers, and shares—have been indelibly cast as routes to professional success and status in the digital creative economy. Against this backdrop, this study sought to examine how creative laborers’ pursuit of social media visibility impacts their processes and products. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with 30 aspiring and professional content creators on a range of social media platforms—Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, and Twitter—we contend that their experiences are not only shaped by the promise of visibility, but also by its precarity. As such, we present a framework for assessing the volatile nature of visibility in platformized creative labor, which includes unpredictability across three levels: (1) markets, (2) industries, and (3) platform features and algorithms. After mapping out this ecological model of the nested precarities of visibility, we conclude by addressing both continuities with—and departures from—the earlier modes of instability that characterized cultural production, with a focus on the guiding logic of platform capitalism.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 279
Author(s):  
Fang Zhao ◽  
Ning Zhu ◽  
Juha Hämäläinen

This study investigated the resilience of the Chinese child protection system in responding to the special needs of children in difficulty under the specific circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study applied qualitative document analysis of child protection administrative documents, in-depth interviews with 13 child protection professionals, and an in-depth case study of 14 children living in difficulty, complemented by relevant information available in the media. The results indicate that there are good policies in China’s child protection services but the organizational and functional fragmentation complicates implementation, suggesting a need for the development of bottom-up practices. The essential conclusion supported by these results is that the child protection system should be regarded and developed as a systematic project combining the legal, policymaking, and professional systems of child welfare services as well as governmental and non-governmental forces. As the COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness of the need to develop the field of child protection holistically as an integrated system in terms of social sustainability in China, an international literature-based comparison indicates that the pandemic has also raised similar political awareness in other countries.


Author(s):  
David Philip Green ◽  
Mandy Rose ◽  
Chris Bevan ◽  
Harry Farmer ◽  
Kirsten Cater ◽  
...  

Consumer virtual reality (VR) headsets (e.g. Oculus Go) have brought VR non-fiction (VRNF) within reach of at-home audiences. However, despite increase in VR hardware sales and enthusiasm for the platform among niche audiences at festivals, mainstream audience interest in VRNF is not yet proven. This is despite a growing body of critically acclaimed VRNF, some of which is freely available. In seeking to understand a lack of engagement with VRNF by mainstream audiences, we need to be aware of challenges relating to the discovery of content and bear in mind the cost, inaccessibility and known limitations of consumer VR technology. However, we also need to set these issues within the context of the wider relationships between technology, society and the media, which have influenced the uptake of new media technologies in the past. To address this work, this article provides accounts by members of the public of their responses to VRNF as experienced within their households. We present an empirical study – one of the first of its kind – exploring these questions through qualitative research facilitating diverse households to experience VRNF at home, over several months. We find considerable enthusiasm for VR as a platform for non-fiction, but we also find this enthusiasm tempered by ethical concerns relating to both the platform and the content, and a pervasive tension between the platform and the home setting. Reflecting on our findings, we suggest that VRNF currently fails to meet any ‘supervening social necessity’ (Winston, 1996, Technologies of Seeing: Photography, Cinematography and Television. British: BFI.) that would pave the way for widespread domestic uptake, and we reflect on future directions for VR in the home.


2020 ◽  
pp. 216747952094273
Author(s):  
Doralice Lange de Souza ◽  
Ian Brittain

There are claims that the Paralympic Games (PG) might contribute to a better world for people with disabilities (PWD). However, there are also claims that the PG might in fact be counterproductive to the PWD’s rights movement because they might promote the medical model of disability and/or ableism. In this context, we developed a qualitative exploratory study to investigate the legacies of the Rio 2016 PG from the perspective of disability rights activists and people involved in Paralympic sport managerial positions. In this article, we discuss one of the main perceived legacies that the PG fostered PWD’s visibility and a change in society’s perception of PWD. We conducted 24 open in-depth interviews and found that, for our participants, the PG worked as a showcase for PWD who were rarely seen in the media and in public spaces before the Games. This visibility helped to challenge negative stereotypes and stigmas associated with PWD, as well as possibly opening new doors for them. Our interviewees believe that we shouldn’t expect that the PG alone can change people’s perceptions and PWD’s status overnight. They are part of a larger and complex set of actions that are slowly contributing to this process.


Author(s):  
Marcela Campos-Rueda ◽  
Susana Herrera-Damas

This paper examines databases of female experts as tools to promote gender parity in the sources consulted and cited by journalists. To do this, we conducted a search of databases available online (n = 88) and carried out in-depth interviews with people in charge of these databases (n = 4) as well as a survey among female scientific researchers included in the database of the Association of Women Researchers and Technologists of Spain (AMIT) (n = 919). The main results reflect the great potential of these tools but indicate that, to be effective, they require fluid communication with the media and a design that allows their incorporation into the regular routines of journalists. In Spain, their impact is still low and, as in the rest of the world, there is great fragmentation of resources accompanied by very weak interaction among the different initiatives. Resumen Se presenta un análisis de las bases de datos de mujeres expertas como herramientas para fomentar la paridad de género en las fuentes que consultan y citan los periodistas. Para informar nuestro trabajo, hemos llevado a cabo una búsqueda de las bases de datos disponibles online (n=88). En un segundo momento, la completamos con la realización de entrevistas en profundidad con las directivas al frente de estas bases (n=4) y con la realización de una encuesta a expertas científicas que participan de la base de datos de la Asociación de Mujeres Investigadoras y Tecnólogas de España (AMIT) (n=919). Los principales resultados reflejan el alto potencial de estas herramientas e indican que, para que resulten eficaces a la hora de sumar diversidad en la selección de fuentes expertas, requieren una comunicación fluida con los medios y un diseño que permita incorporarlas a las rutinas habituales de los periodistas. En España su impacto aún es bajo y, al igual que ocurre a nivel global, se aprecia una alta fragmentación de los recursos junto a un nivel casi nulo de interacción entre las distintas iniciativas.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 720-738
Author(s):  
Balázs Boross ◽  
Stijn Reijnders

Interventional television formats centering around the ritual transformation of “ordinary people” are not only followed by sizable audiences worldwide but also attract large numbers of aspiring candidates. Although the benefits and consequences of participating in such shows have long been debated within academia and beyond, research into actual experiences of participating in such television productions remains scarce. Based on in-depth interviews with participants of the disability dating show The Undateables, this article focuses on how contributors deal with their position in the production and how their experiences reflect the emancipatory claims of the program. By presenting the production process through the story and from the perspective of three participants, different modes of participation will be discussed, revealing how instances of submission, appropriation, and contestation of the production logic are linked to ideals of representation, notions about empowerment and voice, and to strategies of negotiating normalcy and difference.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mi Kyoung Jin ◽  
Hui Jeong Yun ◽  
Hye Sun Lee

In the field of technology education, virtual reality (VR) training has received significant attention in terms of its efficacy in use. Given its many advantages, there is a specific need to emphasize concrete measures for the implementation of VR training in the field of tech education. VR training based on mobile environments has been touted as a means of not only enhancing presence, flow, and learning authenticity, but also of minimizing spatial and temporal constraints. The present study has developed an evaluation tool for VR training contents, including those based on mobile environments. After categorizing VR training contents in the field of tech education into structure comprehension type, procedure learning type, and equipment experiment type contents, we constructed items for each evaluation area. The considered areas included learning, media, and content quality. By conducting Delphi surveys with a panel of experts, we confirmed that the derived evaluation items differed in number across different types of content. Under the learning area, satisfaction was found to be adequate for all content types. Items such as flow, interactivity, and learning effects were found to be adequate for procedure learning and equipment experiment type contents. The media area indicated marked variability in item adequacy depending on the content type. Usability was found to be adequate only for procedure learning type content. For equipment experiment type content, items such as presence, usability, and manipulability were all found to be adequate. All evaluation items under the content design area were found to be adequate across all content types. Thus, regardless of the type of content, it is necessary to fulfil the basic elements within the content design area in order to establish the efficacy of VR training as educational content in the field of tech education.


2020 ◽  
Vol V (IV) ◽  
pp. 27-33
Author(s):  
Irem Sultana ◽  
Malik Adnan ◽  
Muhammad Imran Mehsud

This research paper inspected the role of Pakistani media to protect indigenous languages and culture in Pakistan. The study examined the situation; if Pakistani media outpours concern with the native languages or not. The article also checked the media landscape, its language-wise segregation and scenario of literacy in different areas of the country. The outcomes of the study showed that Pakistani media is neglecting the indigenous languages. The study results exhibited clearly that media houses’ focus on protecting native languages, is not profound. The findings also showed that foreign ownership of Media houses plays a role in neglecting indigenous language promotions. The current study presented that Pakistani mainstream media is damaging the local and native languages. The study was the outcome of qualitative content analysis and in-depth interviews of senior communication experts.


Author(s):  
Aija Cunska

Mathematics is an important and complex subject, and research in the field of neuroscience shows that 50% of people have a fear of mathematics. However, it is a subject that students will need for the rest of their lives. Educators recognize that every student needs an individual approach, but the teaching methods are still the same for the whole class. The poor results in mathematics also suggest that students' perceptions and interests have changed, and that old teaching methods are no longer as effective as before and that new solutions need to be invented. The aim of the research is to identify important factors that are necessary for more effective learning of mathematics in general education schools. Qualitative research methods were used for the research strategy - in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, surveys of pupils and students, information analysis in the media, pedagogical and business experience, as well as world success stories. As a result of the research, the following have been identified: 1) problems that were identified using the distance learning during the Covid19 pandemic; 2) students' wishes that arouse interest in mathematics; 3) the interests of students, which indicate the need for interdisciplinary approaches; 4) advantages of artificial intelligence (AI) in education. The study points to the necessity for collaboration between educators, industry professionals, entrepreneurs and researchers, and for AI solutions to create deeper, faster and more personalized learning of mathematics in general education schools in the future, increasing the growth of every student.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-544
Author(s):  
Daniel Zomeño ◽  
Rocío Blay-Arráez

Media convergence and the incorporation of new narratives typical of the consumption habits of younger audiences in the social media environment have led to the proliferation of a wide variety of formats and types of content in the media ecosystem through which the editorial content offered to brands is being distributed. This qualitative research, using in-depth interviews with a qualified sample of branded content managers from the main Spanish media, allows us to determine the main characteristics of the native advertising demanded by advertisers. The results corroborate observations that content channelled through more sophisticated consumption experiences, using both multimedia and interactivity with a clear transmedia approach, tends to be better received by the audience and, therefore, in greater demand by brands. It also confirms that both video and social media formats have grown exponentially when it comes to providing an outlet for branded content. Based on the results obtained, a proposed classification of these products, including definitions, has been drawn up so they can be publicised to the professional world, offering the reflection and precision that their rapid development has not allowed until now.


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