The Virtual UCF Arboretum - Educational STEM

The Virtual UCF Arboretum, Version 1.0, Created by The Harrington Lab

© October 2018, Maria C. R. Harrington

About: The Virtual UCF Arboretum Project (2016 – present) is a Virtual Nature model annotated to work as an educational simulation. Constructed as a large open world, using sparse GIS data sets required for information fusion and domain expertise to achieve accuracy and realism, the data are visualized with photorealistic accuracy to match the real environment. The ambient bioacoustics are accurate representations of insects, amphibians, and birds found in the environment. All photorealistic 3D plant models are botanically correct, and each is dispersed using actual plant population data to simulate realistic dispersion and densities. The 100 hectare (247 acres) virtual model was constructed in the Unreal game engine. The virtual environment is unique because it integrates a complementary website with a digital media plant atlas that includes facts and concepts, which allows individual users to pursue deeper inquiry at the moment of personal encounter and curiosity.  

How to use:  The Unreal Engine model can be used on any VR ready PC, with graphic cards comparable to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070, or more powerful. Once you download and install it, users can select the Escape key to open the Help Menu. Use the arrow keys to move around the open world, and at any plant where the cross hairs turn bright green you can click with the mouse to open the plant atlas and read facts and concepts about that plant. 

Credits: The Virtual UCF Arboretum project is an augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) collaboration between The Harrington Lab in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media, in the College of Arts and Humanities, and the UCF Arboretum in the Department of Biology, in the College of Sciences, and the Landscape and Natural Resources team at the University of Central Florida.    

Legal Notice: Terms of Service: Privacy: Upon downloading or using this software, the RECIPIENT agrees to the following terms: This software was developed by and is the property of Maria C. R. Harrington and will be used only for non-commercial, educational or research purposes. Any use of the software will cite Dr. Maria Harrington and The Harrington Lab at The University of Central Florida in any publications, presentations, or other public disseminations.  By downloading the software, the RECIPIENT agrees not to sell, lease, license, copy or otherwise transfer software to any person or organization for the purpose of producing or marketing products for general sale or to conduct research activities that result in any sale, license, lease or transfer of the software provided. The University of Central Florida and its employees, agents, faculty, staff and students (“University of Central Florida and Associated Parties”) shall have no obligation, expressed or implied, to supervise, monitor, review, maintain, provide support services, or otherwise assume responsibility for the use of this software. The University of Central Florida expressly disclaims any and all warranties (express or implied)  in conjunction with this software, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, warranties of non-infringement or non-violation of any kind whatsoever (including but not limited to non-infringement of any kind of intellectual property) and any and all other warranties.  The RECIPIENT hereby agrees to accept the software “as-is."  In no event will the University of Central Florida and Associated Parties be responsible to the RECIPIENT for any damages, including but not limited to direct damages, indirect damages, incidental damages, consequential damages, exemplary damages of any kind, lost goodwill, lost profits, lost business and/or any direct or indirect economic damages whatsoever regardless of whether such damages arise from claims based upon negligence, tort (including strict liability or other legal theory), and regardless of whether the University of Central Florida and Associated Parties were advised or had reason to know of the possibility of incurring such damages in advance.  The University of Central Florida expressly retains all rights, benefits, and immunities of sovereign immunity under section 768.28, Florida statutes.