Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale Italia 39/A, 07100, Sassari, Italy.
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Cagliari, Via Ospedale 72, 09124, Cagliari, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2023 Oct 25;13(1):18282. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-45772-2.
Modern livestock farm technologies allow operators to have access to a multitude of data thanks to the high number of mobile and fixed sensors available on both the livestock farming machinery and the animals. These data can be consulted via PC, tablet, and smartphone, which must be handheld by the operators, leading to an increase in the time needed for on-field activities. In this scenario, the use of augmented reality smart glasses could allow the visualization of data directly in the field, providing for a hands-free environment for the operator to work. Nevertheless, to visualize specific animal information, a connection between the augmented reality smart glasses and electronic animal identification is needed. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to develop and test a wearable framework, called SmartGlove that is able to link RFID animal tags and augmented reality smart glasses via a Bluetooth connection, allowing the visualization of specific animal data directly in the field. Moreover, another objective of the study was to compare different levels of augmented reality technologies (assisted reality vs. mixed reality) to assess the most suitable solution for livestock management scenarios. For this reason, the developed framework and the related augmented reality smart glasses applications were tested in the laboratory and in the field. Furthermore, the stakeholders' point of view was analyzed using two standard questionnaires, the NASA-Task Load Index and the IBM-Post Study System Usability Questionnaire. The outcomes of the laboratory tests underlined promising results regarding the operating performances of the developed framework, showing no significant differences if compared to a commercial RFID reader. During the on-field trial, all the tested systems were capable of performing the task in a short time frame. Furthermore, the operators underlined the advantages of using the SmartGlove system coupled with the augmented reality smart glasses for the direct on-field visualization of animal data.
现代畜牧场技术使操作人员能够通过在畜牧场机械和动物上使用大量的移动和固定传感器来访问大量数据。这些数据可以通过 PC、平板电脑和智能手机进行查看，而这些设备必须由操作人员手持，这导致了现场活动所需的时间增加。在这种情况下，使用增强现实智能眼镜可以允许直接在现场查看数据，为操作人员提供免提环境。然而，要可视化特定的动物信息，需要增强现实智能眼镜和电子动物识别之间建立连接。因此，本研究的主要目标是开发和测试一种可穿戴框架，称为 SmartGlove，它能够通过蓝牙连接将 RFID 动物标签和增强现实智能眼镜连接起来，允许直接在现场可视化特定的动物数据。此外，本研究的另一个目标是比较不同水平的增强现实技术（辅助现实与混合现实），以评估最适合畜牧业管理场景的解决方案。为此，在实验室和现场测试了开发的框架和相关的增强现实智能眼镜应用程序。此外，还使用两个标准问卷（NASA 任务负荷指数和 IBM 课后系统可用性问卷）分析了利益相关者的观点。实验室测试的结果表明，所开发框架的运行性能有很大的希望，与商业 RFID 读取器相比，没有显著差异。在现场试验期间，所有测试系统都能够在短时间内完成任务。此外，操作人员强调了使用 SmartGlove 系统与增强现实智能眼镜相结合，直接在现场可视化动物数据的优势。
