What is a Virtual Try-on?

Virtual try-on belongs to the category of AR or augmented reality. This gives customers the chance to try on the glasses themselves with no need for them to actually touch the products. Everything is done virtually using a smartphone that captures the images in real-time.

The ability to virtually try on items lends customers an opportunity to know exactly how a pair of glasses looks on them. Whether it is a pair of sunglasses or prescription glasses, virtually trying on these items enables both retailers and customers to connect with each other. It eliminates the need to deal with the common concern of customers having to come to physical stores to buy a pair. 

How Does a Virtual Try-on Tool Work?

From fashion sunglasses to prescription glasses, eyeglass makers use powerful and effective virtual try-on tools for both of these categories. A virtual try-on works easily with the following steps:

1. Start by browsing through the different eyeglass models. You could filter these by material, color, style, or gender.
2. Once you find the exact frame that you like, just choose it then click on the Try Me On button on top of the photo of the product.
3. Let your webcam how the glasses look on your face or you can also upload a picture.

As simple as that, you can try glasses online with ease. 

How Virtual Try-on Helps Eyeglass Makers

Eyeglass makers can greatly benefit from investing in virtual try-on tools for their customers. Here are the top benefits of virtual try-on tools for today’s eyeglass makers.

Customer Engagement 

Customer experience is all about customer engagement. Eyeglass brands that use tools that allow their customers to try glasses online can take advantage of better customer engagement since it puts the powers in the hands of the customers themselves. 

Customers get the chance to choose exactly what they want to buy in the end. With the help of augmented reality, it has become faster and easier for customers to buy glasses with no need to move away from their couch. It is more likely for customers to engage with brands that offer them a more consistent experience. 

Customer Satisfaction

There is no way to tell how a pair of glasses will look unless you get to try it on. If customers have an idea of how a pair will look on them when worn, there is a higher chance for them to be more satisfied with their purchase once they receive it. It helps lower the rates of returns. 

When the customer is highly satisfied, it is more likely for them to buy again from the brand that gave them a positive experience in the past. This will then mean higher revenue for makers of eyeglasses. 

Digital Inventory 

Eyeglass brands will be able to showcase and present their entire collection online. It is often hard to showcase an entire collection in a physical store if augmented reality is not being used. But this is very much possible when it comes to digital inventories.

It doesn’t matter if the brand wants to showcase their new eyeglass designs on an app or website, it is very possible to display the inventory where customers will be able to choose easily. It lets customers see all options in just a matter of clicks.

Reach Out to More Customers

Not all customers are actually willing to visit and shop from physical stores. Letting customers try glasses online using a virtual try-on tool allows eyeglass makers to reach more people all over the world. Since people can conveniently try glasses no matter where they are, they will also spend more time on the website and likely become loyal customers in the long run. It will help grow the international customer base that will eventually improve the recall value and reputation of the brand. 

Save More Time

Customers can also help save more time since there is no longer a need to physically try on the glasses they want or wait to put it to test or trial. Meanwhile, retailers can also save time since it saves them from the need to take out every pair just to have the customer try it.

Through this, retailers can let as many customers as possible try the pairs they like anytime they wish, and the exact same pair can be tried on virtually by several customers simultaneously. This helps save a significant amount of time while letting both eyeglass brands and customers focus on what really matters more for them. 

Other Industries That Embrace Virtual Try-on

When it comes to using virtual try-on tools, the sky is the limit. Today, aside from eyeglass makers, there are many other renowned companies in various industries that are already taking advantage of virtual try-on tools and have enjoyed immense success as a result. 

• Clothing is one of the industries where virtual try-on has been proven to be extremely successful. The industry of fashion is quickly transitioning to offer AR technology using virtual fitting rooms.
• Watchmakers are also joining the virtual try-on bandwagon and are reaping the exciting benefits as they do so. They also offer customers customization options and let them try on customized watches. This way, customers will have an idea of how a customized watch will look on their wrist to let them make some necessary changes to create their dream watch.
• Makeup brands also enable users to try on eyeliner, lipstick, eyebrow, mascara and blush virtually for them to know instantly how different makeup products will look on them when applied. 

Now that you can try glasses online, you will never have to worry about finding the perfect pair for you!

If you feel you can’t choose the perfect glasses online yourself, here are the most important Questions to Ask When Getting Your Glasses at an Optics Shop.

What are Benefits of Earthworms Your Garden Soil

Earthworms are beneficial to gardeners in many ways and are commonly found in healthy organic soils. Many people believe that worms feed on dirt, but in real sense, they actually feed on the bacteria and fungi that are produced on decomposed matter and release ‘worm castings’ which can be called manure that contained the nutrients plants love.

Earthworms are categorized into more than 7,000 species, further sub categorized into 23 families and have over 700 genera. All of these worms perform one major function, which is, tilling and aerating the soil naturally. They hasten up the decomposition (composting) process, they assist to mix soils for more benefits, and they are excellent performer at monitoring soils’ health.

Red wigglers are commonly known with compost, as they live mostly in compost heaps and are the ones used mostly for vermin composting (composting involving worms). They are better and faster at the job than any other organism.

Increasing Earthworms in Your Garden Soil

We all know that worms could be purchased in pounds from many garden stores and spread them on the garden. This method will only work temporarily and will not be as beneficial as expected since worms are in high demand throughout all season.

Encouraging worms naturally is the best way. It’s a case of “if you build it, they will come” as in the better your soil for worm habitat, the more worms that will live in it. You don’t need to add worms, just encourage them to be there and they’ll show up on their own.

First, worms love soils that contain more of organics with a lot of nutrients and a zero acidity level. Begin the process by carrying out primary tests on your soil if you have the ability or better still, add sufficient amount of organic matter to it. Dig the organics deeply into the soil and then add more at the top. Either growing material which could be cover crops like clover or buckwheat or mulch which are straws, clipped grass, leaves and other quality mulches will work best for this purpose. Add light water and dig in manure into the soil at intervals.

After a few weeks, perhaps two months, dig a cubic foot of soil and examine how many worms are in it. You should notice a marked increase. By the end of the season, you should not only have a lot of worms per foot, but also have very rich, healthy soil.

Once the soil is healthy, just maintain it and the worms will stay, no matter what you’re growing in it. An added bonus is that the great soil will not only grow huge yields, but by periodically checking the worms in it, you can tell if something might be going wrong when the worms start leaving.

Maintaining a Healthy Environment for Earthworms in the Soil

Worms, as said earlier, love nutrient-rich, healthy soil. If you keep adding compost and mulches regularly, you’ll always have great soil. The worms will become part of its ecosystem.

Source: GardeningChannel

It’s expected that a certain degree of stress is involved for humans living in a city environment. Perhaps it’s the air pollution that can affect a person, or how crowded the city is, or how expensive it can be. It may seem obvious that city life has these effects of people, but what we may only now have started learning is that this stress takes a toll on bees as well.

A study conducted by North Carolina State University suggests that bees living in urban environments experience more stress than bees in rural areas. The research team first speculated that aspects of urban areas could increase the bees’ exposure to harmful microorganisms and that in turn this may be affecting their immune systems.

The team indeed learned that urban bees are exposed to more disease-causing pathogens as compared to rural bees, and that this could be because, just like humans, bees in urban environments encounter a larger population density and thus are more likely come into contact and spread disease to each other. It is also possible that the problem lies in the nature of the cityscape itself, which could be a more effective breeding-ground for germs in general as compared to a more rural environment.

Research for the study concluded that feral bees in the city are more likely to survive such pathogens because their immune system is stronger. However, bees kept by beekeepers may be more likely to peril in the same situation. According to livescience, “Managed bees typically live in much larger colonies; more individuals in a hive means more stress, and can also mean more opportunities to spread viruses and parasites. And the pesticides that beekeepers use to protect their bees from mites and other pests can have the unfortunate side effect of reducing the bees’ ability to defend themselves against pathogen attacks.”

A researcher in the study, David Tarpy, told livescience that the next step is finding out why bees are declining.

If you’d like to read the study, visit PLOS ONE.

Source: UrbanFarmOnline

These small insects could spell disaster to your ability to enjoy breakfast.

Diaphorina citri (the Asian citrus psyllid), a citrus pest that gobbles away at the leaves of orange trees, is wreaking havoc in Florida’s citrus industry, costing them over three billion dollars in a span of only six years. Though the pest itself does little to harm orange trees, the germs that it carries certainly do, and once a plant is infected, its leaves will begin to die until, within a short number of years, the whole tree succumbs to the infection.

Scientists in the industry are searching for ways to stop the destructive little bug, and one promising method involves the use of sound waves instead of chemical pesticides to negatively affect the animal’s mating process.

Richard Mankin, a specialist in the study of insects (entomology) who works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) indicates that these efforts are an attempt to avoid the overuse of pesticides, which, through natural selection, can cause increased resistance in a population of insects and make the problem even less controllable in the long run. After his research on using sound waves to disturb the pest’s mating calls, he presented his discoveries to the American Acoustical Society.

The mating call of a male diaphorina citri essentially consists of his perching on a tree’s leaves and sending a buzz of small vibrations through the branch system by shuddering his wings, thus revealing his intentions and location to a female. Scientists mimicked the sound and disturbed the mating display by using a buzzer attached to a simple microprocessor.

Currently, the device is impractically expensive because of its lack of range—only about 2 feet—so researchers are attempting to lower its cost, which is currently up to 200 USD per unit. According to Mankin, the acoustic method is still currently inferior to using pesticides, but he expects that as chemical agents become less effective due to resistance, prices for this new technique will fall, and using sound waves to fight the bug will become more practical.

Mankin said he hopes the device can work in tandem with pesticides, targeting infestations to reduce the amount of chemicals used and to help postpone the psyllids’ development of resistance to insecticides.

“We’re looking at the devices more as partners than as a replacement,” he said.

The idea of using sound to catch or deter insects has wider applications, Mankin noted. Acoustic devices have been successfully used to trap pests such as mosquitoes, midges, mole crickets, field crickets, moths, cockroaches, and fruit flies. Ultrasonic signals that simulate bat cries could deter night-flying insects.

“Trying to develop electronic-based pest control is a good idea, because it will help the production of food-and we need all the help we can get to feed the world’s growing population in the future,” Mankin said.

Featured Image: credit to Flickr/Nikita

Source: Takepart.com

Do you know that because of MSM’s ability to enable metabolic wastes to be eliminated from the cells, it is a powerful anti-inflammatory. Excess body weight is inflammation. Click on the link to read more information about MSM in article entitled “MSM – What Are Its Health Benefits and Possible Side Effects?“.

We do not really need to go into the history of Detroit and its current state, do we? We all know the city is suffering. It has been broadcasted all over the news. When we are talking about urban farming, the Detroit area has an excellent climate for seasonal agriculture. The city also has plenty of available land. That is where the pessimistically named Recovery Park comes in.

Michigan has more than 50,000 farms, most of which are single-family owned. The city of Detroit has an excess of land that at the moment reverts to what the NPR calls “a quasi-governmental agency” called the Detroit Land Bank Authority. The city also retains the rights to abandoned property. Those properties are sometimes sold at low prices to youngsters hoping to try turning a $500 house into something that is livable. Many others sit in limbo without a purpose or any prospective buyers.

Urban farming is an industry that is growing. Are you surprised? I’m not. Recovery Park, a nonprofit, runs a program called Recovery Park Farms, which is for profit. Alongside Mayor Mark Duggan, Recovery Park announced the ambition plan last week to create a 60-acre urban farm. It will be settled with greenhouses and hydroponic systems for specialty produce. Recovery Park operates a small portion of urban farms growing vegetables and edible flowers and selling them to local restaurants.

This plan is trickier, partly because Detroit doesn’t actually have $15 million to give to Recovery Park to set up an urban farm. The Detroit News reports that Recovery Park has $1 million of that already and will have to somehow raise the remainder to achieve its goals, which include 120 employees (60 percent of whom will have to be from the Detroit area). It’ll be a tricky process; the land Recovery Park has will have to be cleared of any houses still on the lots, and the new headquarters (the currently defunct Chene-Ferry Market) will need a complete renovation.

But the land is secured, and the project has the approval of the mayor, which means full steam ahead! Or partial steam ahead, maybe. Either way, Recovery Park plans to break ground in spring 2016.

Source: ModernFarmer.com

In 2011 Biello began looking for a place where he, his now-wife Jamie Lynn and their horses, Bear and Duke could lay roots. “I wanted to have a place of our own that we could start a farm and a family on,” he says, “We wanted the security of ownership.”

Unfortunately Biello was up against a huge obstacle that is very common for farmers today. There was little access to land where he could begin his farm. A survey of young farmers by the National Young Farmer’s Coalition in 2011 showed that 68% cited the lack of land as their biggest hurdle. “I wasn’t going to qualify with a bank on my farm manager’s income,” says Biello. “I needed to find someone who would work with me.”

Local Farms Fund, a new investment fund put in place to help sustainably minded farmers like Biello gain access to land, was able to help. The fund purchases farmland in the New York City foodshed—covering New York, New Jersey, Conneticut, and Pennsylvania. They work to set up lease-to-own arrangements with matching farmers.

The idea began as conversations were held between Slow Money NYC investors and Working Farms Capital (and organization that manages and develops farmland ventures.) The fund is farmer driven and works with farmers that have a clear plan for a specific plot of land. The land is borrowed from Iroquois Valley Farms, which is a pioneering investment effort in sustainable farming.

The Local Farm Fund cofounders put up the initial money and launched the fund in October 2014. All they needed was a farmer.

In early 2015, Biello was at a conference when he met Kevin Egolf, an investor who manages the Local Farm fund. For Egolf, the conditions were ideal for the fund’s first deal. “Time came to use with great experience in farming, a thorough business plan, and land he identified for his farm,” Egolf says.

In May, the Biellos moved onto a 63-acre farm near Saratoga Sptings with a mix of land, forest and wetlands, and a 1790s farmhouse. The Local Farm Funds purchased the $415,000 property and the Biellos were provided with a 20-year lease. “We’re hoping they can purchase the land from the fund in 5 to 10 years,” says Egolf.

The purchase also included an agricultural easement on the land, which means the farm will forever be restricted from suburban development.

Biello is living a dream. He spent several years finding the perfect land. He even helped setting up the Hudson Valley Farmland Finder, which connects farmers to land in their area with owner looking to sell. Without financial support, land ownership remains a mere dream. “We got a partner in our farm,” he says of the Local Farms Fund. “Yes, this is an investor group, and they have targets. But it’s a relationship.”

In a world where sustainable financing options are hard to come by for food and agriculture ventures, the Local Farm Fund is a welcome addition. This goes for investors as well as farmers. The fund is one of few that is open to ordinary investors. Iroquois Valley Farms is only available to institutional investors and wealthy individuals who qualify as accredited investors.

The Local Farms Fund relies on the Regulation D, Rule 504 securities exemption, which allows for unaccredited investors. The minimum investment is $10,000, a number determined by the board as the lowest amount needed to cover administrative costs.

To date, the Local Farms Fund has raised $250,000—a quarter of the way towards its goal of $1 million by year end. It currently has about fifteen investors, with more conversations underway. The fund’s cofounders anticipate a 3% annual return on the investments— 2% paid in cash annually, and 1% accumulated over the course of the investment to be paid out in full in the end, says Egolf.

Derek Denckla, one of the founders of Slow Money NYC and a Local Farms Fund cofounder, says the group worked hard to create a program that “solves both sides of the problem.” Young farmers need low-interest, flexible capital to buy land, he says, while investors need “some assurance that the financial risk is mitigated.”

By working with skilled farmers who have identified land, Denckla says, “We’re able to support the higher risk investment in a farmer through the low risk investment of land as an stable asset.”

The fund currently has 3 or 4 farmers in the pipeline for future lease-to-own arrangements. In the meantime, the Biellos are settling into their new home. They plan to develop a vegetable CSA first, and over time expand into meat and eggs for local restaurants and grocery outlets. They’re also considering educational programming and tours for the future.

Featured Image: Locavesting

Source: Locavesting

How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds at  Home

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Remove the seeds from the pumpkin, and then remove all the pulp from the seeds. Then, wash the seeds in cold water to get off any remaining pumpkin flesh and allow them to dry partially.

3. Use a cooking oil of your choice to coat a baking sheet.

4. Add the seeds to the pan and stir them until they are coated in oil.

5. Add salt to taste. You can also do seasoned pumpkin seeds by adding a variety of spices and seasonings before roasting them.

6. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes or until golden brown, stirring once about halfway through.

7. Allow to cool. Roasted pumpkin seeds can then be kept in an airtight container for several weeks.

 Alternative method that will help cut down on the enzyme inhibitors found in pumpkin seeds that sometimes cause stomach upset.

1. Soak the seeds in salty water for at least 8 hours and up to 2 days.

2. If your recipe does not require salt, rinse seeds thoroughly. If your recipe does require salt, then you can skip that step in the recipe and add seeds to the oil.

Seasoned pumpkin seeds can be easily done as well. Coat them in oil (as above) and add your favorite flavors. Brown sugar and cinnamon (plus nutmeg!) can be a favorite sweet treat. Melted butter instead of oil adds a popcorn flavor. Chili powder or Cajun seasonings can add a lot of kick, Worcestershire sauce can give them a smoky flavor, and soy or teriyaki sauce can be fun as well. Any seasoning you enjoy can be used to make pumpkin seeds taste great after roasting. Go for Italian, French, Asian, Latin, or other flavors for fun!

Any of the above recipes can be cooled and stored in an airtight container, keeping the seeds tasty and fresh for weeks!

Storage of Pumpkin Seeds

Once your seeds are roasted, you’ll want to store them. The seeds will last for weeks in any airtight container (Tupperware, Ziploc, canning jars, etc.). Freezing is another method, though this can soften the seeds if they’re still coated in oils. Most people can expect to get up to two months out of their stored seeds if they’re in an airtight container. Honestly, though, do you think they’ll last that long?

 Two interesting resources about roasting pumpkin seeds:

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds by University of Illinois
Don’t Throw Away Those Pumpkin Seeds by University of Missouri

Source: GardeningChannel

Photo: credit to Flickr/justgrimes

This project was started by a plant-loving artist who found out about an orchard in Upstate New York that lacked the funds to continue, so he began a project to graft these trees together to create the ultimate fruit tree.

This video was found on the GeoBeats News YouTube Channel.  The person behind this tree project is  Sam Van Aken.  He has a website called Treeof40Fruit.com where you can see the photos from start to finish of the process as well as his nursery of other planting projects – some have gone to museums, public centers, and to various private collectors.

Source: NewsTheRawFoodWorld.com

This will mean trading in tanks for tractors, and their combat boots for rubber boots. This is all due to the agriculturally-focused career programs that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is creating.

The announcement was made last week by the USDA and the Department of Defense that agriculture is going to be one of the ways the government will provide career help to US service members as they finish their enlistment terms. The program is set to include both classroom instruction as well as registered internships at real working farms.

In addition to the training provided, the USDA will also be offering various financial assistance to the new farmers and ranchers who need help getting started with purchasing the necessary land, equipment, livestock, and other things that they will need to begin. Returning service members can also benefit from housing support programs. These can help with smaller problems such as repair costs or it can provide emergency housing support to veterans.

In a recent press release, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden stated, “This expanded collaboration between USDA and DOD will help to ensure that returning Service members know that there are a wide variety of loans, grants, training and technical assistance for veterans who are passionate about a career in agriculture, no matter their experience level.”

The plan could benefit both veterans and the agriculture industry, which is dominated by a workforce that is aging and shrinking.

For those who were deployed in war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan, agriculture not only provides work but can be therapeutic too. Farming allows service members to perform purposeful work that provides food for the nation while working in a tranquil environment. With 5 million veterans living in rural areas, the program hopes to expand the rate of agricultural production to meet the needs of the country’s growing population.

The new program will build on federal efforts made to financially support vets who want to work in agriculture. Since 2009, the USDA has helped more than 6,482 veterans acquire farmland and farming equipment and maintain their operations by providing a total of $438 million in farm loans. Additionally, the USDA microloan program has provided more than $22 million to more than 1,000 veteran farmers.

Read more about Farmer Veterans Here

Source: takepart

Featured Image Credit: FarmerVeteranCoalition

A deeper look into the report will reveal the truth: it is GMO crops that are unfairly burdening the organic farmers throughout the United States. Through both cross-contamination that occurs on the fields and the post-harvest mixing of grain or seeds, GMO crops are contaminating organic and non-GMO crops. Unfortunately, the burden to protect the crops against this contamination is on the organic farmers which many believe to be unfair. In addition to having to pay for taking measures against contamination, organic farmers also lose when they aren’t able to sell the crops at full value either because the preventative measures fail.

It is clear that these are real problems being faced by the organic farmers, and not simply something assumed based on vague facts. These facts were gleaned from the farmers themselves in a survey conducted with the assistance of the Organic Farmers Agency for Responsible Marketing (OFARM). It revealed that one of every three farmers who responded stated that they have had to deal with GMO contamination on their land. Over half of these experienced rejection by their buyers because of the contamination and estimated median losses were $4,500 per rejection.

Food & Water Watch along with other organizations demanded that the USDA do their own survey of this topic,which they finally did this year. Out of the farmers who responded, 92% indicated that they had experienced a financial loss between the years 2011 and 2014 because of GMO contamination. The estimated loss per farmer in those years was $66,395, which totals about $6.1 million in losses in just four years. This loss is a staggering 77 times higher than the losses which were reported from 2006 to 2011.

As unbelievable as a loss of over 6 million dollars sounds, this is only the tip of the iceberg. The USDA survey left out important questions about the financial impact of pesticide drift that organic farmers are also dealing with which is a whole other ballpark. The lack of survey questions about pesticide drift shouldn’t be too much of a surprise considering the large numbers of herbicide-tolerant crops the USDA continues to approve which leads to more pesticide being used in fields.

Regarding drift issues, one farmer we surveyed wrote, “my only problem comes from drift when commercial chemical sprayers spray on a windy day and the spray drifts across the road or buffer strip to kill my alfalfa or other crops. I call the company and complain but they have never compensated me for my loss as of yet.” Regarding dicamba, another farmer wrote, “I’m more concerned with spray drift—especially with the effort to release Banvel-resistant soybeans. Everyone knows how volatile that chemical can be—not only to organic farmers but all farmers and home owners.” Even Roundup, considered to be less harmful and less prone to drift than 2,4-D and dicamba has been a huge problem for organic growers. One farmer wrote, “in the last 16 years I have had three instances where spray drift has affected my fields. All three times it was Roundup. It has totaled $65,000 and I have had to start the three-year transition process [for organic certification] all over.” Not only has spray drift negatively affected relationships between neighbors, it has resulted in organic farmers being forced to take some areas of their farm out of organic production completely.

These new reports from organic farmers about the real costs of GMOs make it clear once again that it’s past time for USDA to hold biotech and seed companies with GMO seed patents accountable for all losses associated with GMO contamination. But it also makes clear that the USDA’s commitment to herbicide-tolerant crops as the be-all end-all solution to weed control will continue to harm organic and non-GMO producers.

Source: Food&WaterWatch

Feature image: credit to Flickr-jetsandzeppelins