Researchers in the Department of Biology are embarking on a project to create a digital forest model of Oxford’s Wytham Woods using low-cost imaging and sensing technologies, with the ultimate aim of democratising global access to forest monitoring.
The Wytham Digital Forest project marks a step change in how complex ecosystems are monitored and understood. Instead of traditional, high-end scanning solutions, the researchers will use affordable handheld devices, including technologies provided by Sony Semiconductor Solutions, to build a living digital twin of selected plots within Wytham Woods – a model that changes dynamically with the forest itself.
This approach will allow the team not only to track biodiversity and carbon storage, but also to generate robust forecasts of ecological resilience under future scenarios like drought or disease.
Principal investigator Professor Graham Taylor said:
"Recent advances in cutting-edge AI have enabled us to reconstruct and visualise the 3D architecture of plants using affordable handheld devices in place of expensive scanners. Our vision is to advance and validate these low-cost technologies here in Oxford so that they can be put into the hands of communities around the globe to assess biodiversity, monitor recovery and measure carbon storage locally."
Associate Professor Rob Salguero-Gómez, also principal investigator on the project, added:
"Beyond building reliable forecasts of forest dynamics, our ultimate aim is to democratise access to forest monitoring: by validating these technologies here in Oxford, we can ensure that communities worldwide, even in resource-limited settings, can use affordable tools to assess ecosystem health, detect early warning signals, and anticipate how forests will respond to change."
The project will use smartphone-based tools and 3D-imaging and sensing technologies provided by the AITRIOS platform from Sony Semiconductor Solutions. In addition to these tools Sony Interactive Entertainment has generously provided funding for the project.
Dr Sruthi M Krishna Moorthy, Pembroke College Smithsonian Junior Research Fellow said: "We’re particularly excited about the potential for these affordable handheld-based tools to capture forest changes at a finer timescale—especially when it comes to monitoring saplings. Traditional, high-end scanning solutions often overlook these smaller, early-stage plants, but by increasing the temporal frequency of our measurements, we’ll gain clearer insights into how forests establish and evolve. This approach not only makes the technology more accessible globally, but also supports more proactive, data-driven conservation and restoration efforts."
Wytham Woods is an ideal location for the project to take place. Covering 1,000 acres, it is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and often described as one of the most researched pieces of woodland in the world. It has been the subject of continuous ecological research programmes since the 1940s, when it was bequeathed to the University of Oxford by Colonel Raymond ffennell and his wife Hope.
