CIE Project Catalog
Consult: Harland Patch
Provided for: College of Agriculture + ECOS
Purpose
To achieve the goal the student user will have to understand and relay certain structural names and purposes. This tool is intended to help convey concepts of honey bee anatomy to the course Entomology 222.
Narrative
Researcher trying to understand how bees work or conversely with the objective of trying to “fix a bee”. Staging of the scene ought to be a clean productive workspace with an almost auto shop feeling due to the users ability to examine the model at the scale of a car.
Gameplay
You have the tools to examine what is wrong and interact with the internal anatomy of the model and assign labels, and witness or assess functionality.
Major points of focus
-unlike blood, hemolymph is not red and flows through an open circulatory system
-exoskeleton has many sclerite divisions
(external skeletal system = sclerites, where internal skeletal system = bones)
-honey bees don’t have lungs and possess the ability to close off their spiracles
(spiracles are openings in the sides of the abdomen that work like shutters)
-the honey stomach processes honey
(this is an additional stomach that helps process nectar with enzymes)
Inspiration
We hoped to explore novel applications of VR to help communicate internal structures in interactive and immersive ways.
Model Design
Wanting a friendly but bio-accurate representation of a “giant insect” posed a challenge.
We considered more cartoon-style representations inspired by Leap Motions “Cat Explorer”
We settled on a realistic prebuilt asset that we plan to modify from CG Trader user: prntscrn
And model its sclerite divisions based on external anatomy model examples
The 3D views of the honeybee were a challenge to assess so we used many visual reference resources were used and catalogued here, including the SOMSO 3D models of honeybees, Form and Function of the Honey Bee by Leslie Goodman, and Understanding Bee Anatomy by Ian Stell.
Pictured above: head of bee
Pictured above: Sagittal cut of a honey bee
Pictured above: honey bee mouth parts
Pictured above: Venom gland activity during a sting event
The internal organs are composed of simple shapes extruded along splines and formatted with bulge deformers in order to model the general shapes of each organ system (pictured: circulatory system). Cloners were used to replicate the caterpillar intestines and the respiratory branches were built like low poly trees in this tutorial.
The organs were color coded intentionally to avoid the interpretation the bee hemolymph is red like blood because it is a very different substance. We were encouraged to make the organs alien colors to promote the idea their internal organs are very different from our own.
Substance Painter and Photoshop were both used to emulate the color and texture of a honey bee. The wing structures were taken from a microscopy image to properly demonstrate the species-specific segmentation. The abdominal sclerites were painted using texture brushes. It was important to show the “fuzz” as it is a key distinguishing feature between bees and wasps.
These shaders were also considered 1, 2 , 3 , 4.
UI Design
Colors were intended to invoke a feeling of comfort to compensate for the potentially terrifying nature of a very large insect. Focus was placed in color palettes of cool relaxing colors, and warm honey-themed colors to avoid feelings of sterility or alien environments. Themes examined drew inspiration an assortment of spaces from futuristic flight decks, auto-garages, assembly lines, laboratories and classrooms. Ultimately a minimal colorful void space was chosen to maintain focus on the model and ease production flow.
Functionality
The ability to spread the model apart, navigate space, zoom in on the model, label and highlight structures, access specific views, and reset the model position were all necessary to the successful implementation of this tool in the classroom.
We explored several ways this could be accomplished
At the suggestion of Zac Zidik we removed navigation controls from the menus and opted for a more minimal design.
The current design fulfills all of the needs voiced by our project consults with the ability to split apart and navigate the model, label and highlight anatomical structures, reset the position, and view the dorsal and sagittal sections in greater detail.
This project is still in development but nearing its close-
Demos
- https://simmer.io/@BartM_XR_Dev/bee-project-new-model-prototype-01
- https://simmer.io/@BartM_XR_Dev/bees-project-colors-update-1-0-01
- https://simmer.io/@BartM_XR_Dev/bees-project-mouse-rotation-1-0-02
Future Outcomes
-comparative anatomy (vertebrate/invertebrate)
-add more interactivity to internal organ structures
-outreach tool for k-12
-outreach tool for communicating and illustrating pesticide risks for legislators
-more thorough internal information accessible (flight/vision/neuroscience/genomics)
-model other species anatomy
-potential integration with AR tool in pollinator gardens