Visitors to this year’s Techfest can experience technology currently being used by key decision makers in Scotland to envisage how our environment will look as a result of different developments. The Macaulay Institute, the UK’s premier land use research institute, will present the Virtual Landscape Theatre (VLT) at the Exploring Virtual Landscapes workshop which runs on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th of September. Virtual Reality theatre goers will have the opportunity to experience how an Aberdeen offshore wind farm will look and also see changes to the appearance of the city’s Golden Square. The VLT is helping inform the Scottish Government about decisions on future developments.

The only mobile unit of its kind in the UK, the Virtual Landscape Theatre uses cutting edge virtual reality technology to recreate landscapes, demonstrating the potential impact of proposed landscape changes on the environment. Participants of the workshop will be able to visualise alterations to the landscape, conduct research, assess, and vote on these changes.

“The VLT uses virtual reality technology to demonstrate how prospective changes to the landscape can impact on the environment and overall community,” explains Professor David Miller of the Macaulay Institute. “Visitors to the workshops will be able to participate in research into landscape visualisations, including the siting of wind turbines, and can vote on the changes they see.”

The Exploring Virtual Landscapes workshops are free and will be held at 10am, 11am, 12 Noon, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th September at Aberdeen Beach Ballroom. Bookings can be made on the day for the 45- minute workshop.

The Macaulay Institute is the premier land use research institute in the UK. Two hundred and seventy staff are based at the Macaulay Institute at Craigiebuckler in Aberdeen. The Macaulay Institute aims to be an international leader in research on the use of rural land resources for the benefit of people and the environment and is involved in research across the globe; from Scotland to Chile and China. More about the Macaulay Institute can be found at www.macaulay.ac.uk.

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