“The Inflatable Love Dolls of the Floral Kingdom”

Ortricking is a Unity-based AR application designed for exploring the structural anatomy of Orchids through 3D modeling. The app was developed as part of our Augmented and Mixed Realities coursework project, with a team comprising Dingye Zhang, Qianqian Zhou, Xuanlu Liu, and myself. Each of us played multiple roles within the project, with my primary contributions consisting of research, functional logic integration, interaction design, and testing. This page offers an overview of the project, along with a detailed discussion of my contributions and reflections.

We have discovered something interesting about orchids - they are good at cheating. This photo is of a bee orchid which, as its name suggests, really does look like a female bee. By its appearance, male bees are more likely to come and have sex with them, helping to pollinate the orchid in this way. For this reason, orchids are known as the inflatable dolls of the flower kingdom.

Plant Orchid-Human-AR

This is another way of cheating. The picture shows how this bee was caught by the internal structure of the orchid. Inside the stamen there is only one escape route, which is filled with a large amount of sticky liquid, like glue. When the bees eventually escape from inside the flower capsule, they must be covered in pollen forced to help pollinate the orchid.

These are the main reasons why we chose the orchid as the subject of our AR project, she is special enough in the world of plants.

Human-AR-Plant Orchid

By the 1820s, 'Orchido-Mania' had become a popular high-society pastime. Dozens of orchid hunters died abroad for profit, from illness, accident or murder. In China, there is a stereotype of orchids. It is regarded as one of the four gentlemen. People usually use orchids to praise someone elegant. In Europe, cultivating an orchid used to be a symbol of nobility. some people even died of hunting orchids. It’s a big contrast when you already know the story of the previous orchid I talked about.
Humans have always thought of themselves as the most advanced creatures in the world, thus ignoring the creatures around us. We, therefore, use the properties of the AR medium to create a connection between orchids and humans familiarly, telling complex truths about orchids that we have never known before, making the plants 'human' and increasing empathy with them.

AR-Plant Orchid-Human

“What is the storyline ?”︎︎︎"How does it fit in with reality? "

At the beginning of the project, the intention was to exaggerate the abstract image of the orchid to illustrate its unique 'deceptive', 'seductive' and 'anthropomorphic' image, proposing the story characters of the "orchid", "pollinator" and the user as "judge" were designed with a storyline and character dialogue (as shown on the left).

However, upon review, it was found that this form was so abstract that it lost the instrumental rather than storytelling nature of the AR medium, i.e. the question of "How does it fit in with reality? ". After some reflection, I proposed the use of "structural deconstruction" to illustrate the relationship between orchids and pollinators and to reflect the deceptive nature of orchids.

^{(2 Nov - 15 Nov 2022)}

So we began to refine our research on orchids, and as there are some 28,000 species of orchid, we decided to use the most representative one, P. villosum (Lindl.) Stein, as the subject of this project.

Interaction Flow

The functional and content architecture is based on the characteristics of P. villosum (Lindl.) Stein: having yellow staminodes, deceiving pollinators through shiny staminodes, simulating food sources (nectar beads, pollen, etc.) and its own appearance. The above diagram contains the interaction flow and technical implementation work sorting assignments.

Interaction Logic

The AR application is divided into three main modules: 1. growth animations and models; 2. translucent display of the parasitic relationship between P. villosum (Lindl.) Stein and the energy transfer of fungi on the ground; 3. deconstructed models depicting pollinators and other relationships.

Timeline

3D Modelling

Reflections

In my opinion, the pre-research and data compilation were the most intriguing aspects of this project, and I thoroughly enjoyed the brainstorming process and ideation phase. During this stage, we discovered the wonders of orchids and were continuously amazed by the beauty of nature. Most importantly, we learned how to integrate our ideas with AR in a more suitable manner, which was highly fulfilling.

Honestly, completing this project was a significant challenge. In terms of conceptualizing the content, we began with lofty aspirations but were ultimately met with the realities of the task. Moreover, the technical implementation was uncharted territory for our entire team. Although we initially assigned individual functional tasks, we often provided suggestions to one another, resulting in instances of redundant work and emotional, heated discussions due to differing opinions. However, these conflicts often led to unexpected surprises, demonstrating our collective dedication to the project and inspiring me to persist in finding solutions and resolving disputes.

All in all, we ought to be more daring in our utilization of AR, and I must devote more time and effort to learning and practicing technical implementation. I eagerly anticipate the next challenge! 😎️

Lianqi