AMPÉLOS: A Realistic and Innovative Educational Tool
Equipped with a virtual reality headset and guided by the expertise of the trainer and educational scenarios, the trainee practices cutting different types of vine stocks using a virtual pruner.
The AMPÉLOS training application includes:
- A series of short educational capsules aimed at supplementing the experience with theoretical and practical notions;
- Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) by visualizing the postures and movements of the trainee’s avatar.
AMPÉLOS: An Attractive Tool for Careers in the Industry
Presented at the SITEVI 2023 Innovation Award; among 132 other applications, AMPÉLOS unanimously won the gold medal, joining E-CAB among the winners of this prestigious distinction.
Following this first presentation, AMPÉLOS was showcased in schools and continues to attract participants at professional trade shows.
Regularly demonstrated in schools, the AMPÉLOS service is evaluated by student-users, such as the students interviewed from the University Institute of Vine and Wine (IUVV).
AMPÉLOS: An Evolving Software for the Industry
The AMPÉLOS training is continuously enriched with new vine stocks and educational scenarios to meet the training needs of the industry.
The diversity of vine stocks :
Selected by trainers and pruning experts for their educational characteristics, AMPÉLOS’s vine stocks are derived from real scanned stocks to enhance the realism of the experience.
They offer a variety of training modes (simple or double Guyot, cordon, goblet…) and a diversity of ages and types (training stocks, old stocks, “school” stocks, or poorly pruned stocks marked by pruning wounds).
➕ Advantages :
- Acceleration of time and pruning consequences
- Visualization of sap flow
- Visualization of diseases
Training scenarios :
Co-developed with trainers, the educational scenarios meet the objectives of training centers and the transmission of instructions to employees.
Continuously enriched, they cover training pruning, simple Guyot pruning, cordon pruning, goblet pruning, the Poussard principle, desiccation cones, load/vigor balance, diseases, etc.
➕ Advantages :
- Multilingual and regionalizable training
- Course support in a synthetic and fun format
- Workplace safety and health (MSDs)
Press Coverage of AMPÉLOS
Since its deployment began in 2023, the press has dedicated numerous articles, features, and reports to AMPÉLOS.
Around SITEVI 2023
- « Un grand cru pour les Sitevi Innovation Awards 2023 » (Apecita, le 1er décembre 2023)
- « Ampelos, la taille de la vigne en réalité virtuelle récompensée » (“Terre de Vins”, 7 décembre 2023)
- « Ampélos, le simulateur (en or) de formation à la taille de la vigne » (« PleinChamp”, 29 novembre 2023)
- « Ampelos, service de formation virtuelle à la taille de la vigne, médaillé d’or du SITEVI Innovations Awards » (L’université numérique, le 30 novembre 2023)
- « Un simulateur pour la formation à la taille de la vigne en réalité étendue » (CEA List, le 23 novembre 2023)
Want an AMPÉLOS?
STUDIO NYX – 144 Route de Vars – 16160 Gond-Pontouvre.
www.studio-nyx.com
Contact : commerce@studio-nyx.com
Origins of the Project…
Pruning the vine is a fundamental step that determines the productivity and longevity of the vineyard. Additionally, so-called “virtuous” pruning is the first line of defense against wood diseases, which are the main culprits behind unproductive vines in French vineyards.
Given this fact and the growing shortage of skilled labor, the AMPÉLOS project aims to develop innovative educational tools to raise awareness among both experienced and inexperienced operators about proper pruning practices.
The health issue is also crucial : vineyard workers are highly exposed to musculoskeletal disorders. Pruning training will not only help in adopting better postures but also enhance the pruner’s expertise and perception.
AMPÉLOS Objectives
The ambition of AMPÉLOS is to train novice pruners and improve the skills of professional pruners in “virtuous” pruning, free from seasonal constraints. It targets both vineyard managers and their employees as well as training centers.
- Offer educational content to better understand the effects of wood diseases on the vine and the consequences of virtuous pruning practices.
- Provide practical work in the form of immersive virtual reality experiences, following rules defined by master pruners and proven in the field.
A Simulator Created by a Broad Consortium of Industry Players
The VINUM Program relies primarily on a dedicated consortium of about ten stakeholders. It also benefits from a broad ecosystem of around fifty partners representing the industry’s diversity.
At the origin of AMPÉLOS’s development are the experts in interactive simulation and extended reality (XR) from CEA-List, who designed and developed the tool in collaboration with the graphic artists of Studio NYX.
The virtual pruning simulator also relied on 3D imaging, based on a digital twin created in vivo. The rendering offered by AMPÉLOS is extremely realistic – in terms of textures, colors, and wood diameters. These are essential parameters for learning to prune the vine at the right spot.
Finally, all the content has been validated by the expertise of 16 training centers spread across French vineyards, as well as by master pruners Simonit & Sirch and Maison Hennessy.
Our Partners Share Their Testimonials
The transmission of expertise is a strong commitment upheld by Maison Hennessy since its inception. We are also heavily invested in the implementation of virtuous pruning principles to sustain the production potential of our vineyard. The AMPÉLOS project embodies these two ambitions, supported by cutting-edge technologies and involving training stakeholders to innovatively disseminate best practices within the viticulture sector.
Mathilde Boisseau
Director of Vine & Wine at Maison Hennessy
The AMPÉLOS digital twin is the result of an unprecedented collaboration where innovation enhances the competitiveness of an excellent industry. It demonstrates the potential of this technology, which has adapted to a new application domain to agilely address new training challenges and health risk prevention.
Alexandre Bounouh
Director of the CEA-List Institute
AMPÉLOS is a collective intelligence effort serving an entire industry, addressing a wide range of audiences: young trainees, agricultural workers, estate managers. AMPÉLOS involves more than 16 partner training centers representing the diversity of vineyard management practices in France. Insurers, viticulture experts, agricultural chambers, unions, interprofessional organizations, local authorities, researchers, and field technicians are all involved to better train and introduce this craft of pruning.
Romain Soulié
CEO of Studio NYX
Learners reserve the right to make mistakes, and learning through trial and error is very pedagogically relevant: back-and-forth between real and virtual experiences helps better understand decision-making. AMPÉLOS is a very interesting tool to demonstrate how crucial pruning is for the vitality and sustainability of the vine. The educational scenarios are carefully designed and considered with trainers to best integrate into the educational paths of students and learners. Finally, it is also a real asset for the attractiveness of training programs in viticulture and winemaking careers.
Baptiste Cher
Project Manager of the Viticultural High Schools of Mâcon-Davayé and Cosne-sur-Loire