Copyright thehindu
Trees at the College of Applied Science (IHRD) at Kanthallur here now tell their stories with a little help from technology. As part of an AI-powered project ‘Vruksha Vedam’, QR codes have been installed on trees, enabling visitors to scan and instantly access details. College Principal G. Sreekumar said that through the project, trees on the IHRD campus function as a library. “The BSc and MSc students of the college are behind the initiative and have fixed QR codes on 80 trees as a pilot project. QR code will be fixed for all trees on the campus,” said Mr. Sreekumar. Apart from the details of the trees, visitors will also be able to access novels, short stories, and poems related to the trees in Malayalam and Tamil. Scanning the QR code on a sandalwood tree will yield sandalwood-related novels in both Tamil and Malayalam. There is also a song about sandal, written by a computer science student of the college. “AI helped in rendering the song,” said an official. Possibility of patent According to officials, the project was implemented with the support of the Munnar Wildlife Division. “The college is also exploring the possibility of getting a patent for the Vruksha Vedam project. The college campus is filled with different types of trees, and the new project will provide their details to students and outsiders. The campus has many rare trees,” said an official. S. Indrajith, an official of the college, said that earlier the students had set up a sandalwood garden on the IHRD campus. “The Vruksha Vedam is another tree-related project established by the college,” he said. Devikulam MLA A. Raja inaugurated the Vruksha Vedam project on Thursday.
