This content pack includes 102 unique meshes, 35 AR/VR ready botanically correct plants that naturally occur in Northeastern US (Maine to Michigan to Kentucky and Virginia).
About: These digital art 3D plant models were originally created by Maria C. R. Harrington for her dissertation research. Harrington, Maria C.R. (2008) Simulated Ecological Environments for Education: A Tripartite Model Framework of HCI Design Parameters for Situational Learning in Virtual Environments. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
The Virtual Trillium Trail Project investigated the digital media design factors that resulted in impacts on emotions and learning outcomes. It was a Ph.D. dissertation in information science (research 2003-2008) that lead to significant findings on the immersive virtual environment (XR) design factors of information fidelity and navigational freedom on informal learning and emotions. The first version of the application was a MOD of Unreal Tournament. The download here was a redevelopment required to create the .exe file.
The plants were resurrected and used in a new research project in collaboration with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The AR Perpetual Garden Apps (2015-2018) is for use inside and outside museums to extend the learning impact of real dioramas and gardens. It was created by an interdisciplinary team of artists and scientists.
Research findings on the importance of design of applications and the interactions between beauty and knowledge may be found here: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frvir.2023.1100540/full
Research and software projects may be downloaded here: https://virtualnature.org/
Copyright © 2008, 2010, 2021, Maria C. R. Harrington, CC BY 4.0 Deed Attribution 4.0 International: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Licensed to the UCF Foundation, Inc. https://ucffoundation.org/
For any educational or non-profit use, please contact Dr. Harrington maria.harrington@ucf.edu
Content:
Appalachian forest plants and flowers: 35 plants (10 trees and 25 flowers and plants).
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Plant list:
Appalachian forest
The Harrington Lab at UCF, Digital Media Team
Dr. Maria C. R. Harrington: Assistant Professor, Director of the Project
Carnegie Museum of Natural History and Powdermill Nature Reserve Team
This work was funded in part by a 2020 Epic MegaGrant: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-05/uocf-egm051120.php
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