FARM IN

ABOUT

People are not aware of the origin of the food they consume and how it is grown. Farm-In aims to help them understand more about fresh produce and raise awareness about sustainable food production. It is a mobile platform to educate users about alternative food sources and to help develop their relationship with produce. This augmented reality based application will allow them to visualize indoor farming within their home space and help point them in the direction where they can materialize that vision. Farm-In will have tie-ups with local markets from which they can purchase the indoor farming setup for their home.

IDEATION

Farm in was my capstone project at UNSW for my master’s degree. The grand challenge presented to my class was the 12th United Nations Sustainable Development Goal, sustainable production and consumption of food. We studied the grand challenge and noticed that there had been unethical practices in the food industry as there was an imbalance between the demand and supply of food. Due to the rapidly growing population, there won’t be enough food to sustain future generations, with the urban population stated to raise almost two-fold in the future. We need to find ways to reduce that pressure on the food industry. Climate change has also profoundly affected our food security in the present and future.

This added demand has led to a disruption in the food industry. To add to that, people’s relationship with food has to be improved, as only when they have become more aware of the production process would they fight to see a change in the industry. People’s perception and relationship with food had to change.

After understanding the grand challenge, I came up with the initial idea for my application in a brainstorming activity in class. Based on the elements which were handed to me in class, I came up with the idea of using augmented reality to help change people’s perception by showing them indoor farming in spaces they inhabited. It started off as an idea for a piece in an exhibition, after user research I realised the problem and iterated it into a product that links Australia’s indoor farming industry directly to the consumer.

SCREENS

WHAT DOES IT DO?

Farm In is a mobile application, which allows users to view their spaces in a different way, and it lets them purchase hydroponic indoor farming units for their homes. Hydroponic farming does not require soil which eliminates pests, and it gives higher yields with faster growth. Hydroponic units have their own watering systems and can be grown with LED lights, making them suitable for people with busy schedules and not well-lit spaces.

It uses augmented reality to allow users to visualise how the units would look in their preferred spaces before they purchase them. Based on the budget and available space, which the users feed in, the app shows them the units that best suit their requirements. They can then view how the units will look in their selected spaces. Farm In will collaborate with Australian indoor and vertical farming companies to allow users to purchase the unit that fits their requirements and have it delivered to their doorstep.

Every time a user makes a purchase on the application for an indoor farming unit, the backend of the application would send the details to the seller whose product the user has selected. The user can then keep track of the status of their order as the seller keeps updating the steps of the order. Farm In also allows users to select the plants they would like to grow in their unit at checkout, helping them customise their units.

There appears to be insufficient information in the market about hydroponic units and their costs at the moment. The information about the products and services was not easily accessible to the general public, as most of these companies require reaching out to customer service to get information or prices for their products which could take a few days. Farm in would help bridge that gap and allow the users to be able to connect with the industry immediately through the application; they will have in their palms the details about the hydroponic units available in the market and be able to purchase them without having to make individual inquiries. Upon my research, I could not find much information along those lines myself, so I reached out to various Australian vertical farming companies such as Vertical Farms, Farm Wall, and Modular Farms.

INSPIRATION

The application uses augmented reality, which is used by various applications in the market, such as interior decoration apps like IKEA home and Housecraft.

While Australian indoor farming companies have not prioritised individual units as their main clients are businesses, they already have the technology and resources to do so. Globally, there have been upcoming projects like ‘Lokal’ by IKEA, a hydroponic unit designed for indoors that boasts growing greens three times faster than conventionally. ‘Agrilution’ is another example of an indoor farm unit created by a Munich-based firm called plantCube; it is a vertical farming system which can be tracked and controlled using an application. Companies like Grove Labs are trying to incorporate their indoor farming technology within existing furniture to help the system blend inside living spaces.

Users can download Farm In and enter their space and price range

Users can select from a list of available units that fit their requirements

Users can scan their space using their phone camera and view how it would fit in

They can select plants they want to grow and get them delivered with the unit to their house

Olvera Advisors

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