Connecting virtual reality and ecology: a new tool to run seamless immersive experiments in R.

Virtual reality (VR) technology is an emerging tool that is supporting the connection between conservation research and public engagement with environmental issues. The use of VR in ecology consists of interviewing diverse groups of people while they are immersed within a virtual ecosystem to produce better information than more traditional surveys. However, at present, the relatively high level of expertise in specific programming languages and disjoint pathways required to run VR experiments hinder their wider application in ecology and other sciences.

Using virtual reality and thermal imagery to improve statistical modelling of vulnerable and protected species.

Biodiversity loss and sparse observational data mean that critical conservation decisions may be based on little to no information. Emerging technologies, such as airborne thermal imaging and virtual reality, may facilitate species monitoring and improve predictions of species distribution. Here we combined these two technologies to predict the distribution of koalas, specialized arboreal foliovores facing population declines in many parts of eastern Australia.