VR-Herbarium Application: The Case of KATO Herbarium in Karadeniz Technical University

Abstract

Abstract It requires a significant amount of time, money and effort to visit institutions containing different collections in different parts of the world, for many reasons such as transportation, visa, and research permit. In this study, it is aimed to develop a virtual herbarium with both mobile and browser support, which will enable to access the panoramic view of the herbarium and the visual and botanical characteristics of the herb samples in the herbarium. Karadeniz Technical University Faculty of Forestry (KATO) Herbarium, established in 1973 and registered in the International Herbarium Index, was chosen as the study area. The virtual herbarium (VR) KATO application was carried out in three stages: production of panorama images of the herbarium, creation-connection of the database and programming of the application. Within the scope of the study, a database containing the botanical features and images of 20 herb samples in the herbarium was also created using the MongoDB Atlas connection, and a dynamically-updatable herb library was presented to the online visitors. This study is a pioneer with the concept of virtual reality and a distinctive example of mixed reality technologies’ usage in the forestry discipline. Besides that, the study is a unique example for different fields related to forestry, which contains different libraries such as flora, fauna, endemic species, and national parks, and for other sectors.