Exhibition: From Seeds to Foods representing the UBC LFS
About the Project
In early 2024 Amy started “The Virtual Soils Project” with the hope of combining her love for soils with her passions for photography, virtual reality, and game development. In late 2024, she brought the project to UBC with the hope of applying emerging technologies in photogrammetry and digital reconstruction to the field of soil science. Amy dreams of a future where soil scientists, educators, farmers, the public, and more can learn, and share more through the application of these emerging technologies.
What is a Virtual Soil Model?
A Virtual Soil Model is a photorealistic reconstruction of a real-world soil within its natural environmental context. These soil pits are carefully opened and then photographed to allow for later reconstruction using 3D-Gaussian splat based Radiance Fields (read more). The capture process can accurately reconstruct the structure, and colour of soils as well as the surrounding plants and landscapes.
The process to generate a Virtual Soil Model is under active research and development. An approximate outline of the process from field capture to final distribution is outlined below:
Reconstruction Process
- Capture
- Editing & Colour Correction
- Structure from Motion (SfM)
- 3D-Gaussian Splat Generation
- Final Edits
Once the reconstruction is completed, and a Virtual Soil model is completed it is then made available as an open-access soil education and science communication resource! The models are supported with detailed annotations as collected by scientists in the field to guide learning and engagement!
