Virtual Reality in Biology: Can We Become Virtual Naturalists?

Juliano Morimoto; Fleur Ponton

doi:10.20944/preprints201910.0311.v2

Preprint Concept Paper Version 2 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Version 1 : Received: 27 October 2019 / Approved: 27 October 2019 / Online: 27 October 2019 (15:49:29 CET)
Version 2 : Received: 12 May 2020 / Approved: 14 May 2020 / Online: 14 May 2020 (08:52:09 CEST)
Version 3 : Received: 18 January 2021 / Approved: 19 January 2021 / Online: 19 January 2021 (10:54:11 CET)

Technological advances made Virtual and Mixed Reality (VMR) accessible at our fingertips. However, only recently VMR has been explored for the teaching of biology. Here, we highlight how VMR applications can be useful in biology education, discuss about caveats related to VMR use that can interfere with learning, and look into the future of VMR applications in the field. We then propose that the combination of VMR with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence can provide unprecedented ways to visualise how species evolve in self-sustained immersive virtual worlds, thereby transforming VMR from an educational tool to the centre of biological interest.

virtual reality; biological evolution; immersive reality

Biology and Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Comment 1

Received: 14 May 2020
Commenter: Juliano Morimoto
Commenter's Conflict of Interests: Author

Comment: Following reviwers' comments, we created a new panel in figure A. We also reviewed the similarieis and differences of current computational methods in relation to our concept (starting in the new section Bio-inspired systems and the rise of artificial evolution). Everything else is the same with minor changes on the English grammar throughout the text.

+ Respond to this comment

Not displayed online.

Please leave your comment to this article below.

Mathematical equations can be typed in either LaTeX formats \\[ ... \\] or $$ ... $$, or MathML format <math> ... </math>. Try the LaTeX or MathML example.

Type equation:

Preview:

Copy equation into message below

Close menu

Please click a symbol to insert it into the message box below:

Please enter the link here:

Optionally, you can enter text that should appear as linked text:

Copy link into message below

Close menu

Please enter or paste the URL to the image here (please only use links to jpg/jpeg, png and gif images):

Copy image into message below

Close menu

Type author name or keywords to filter the list of references in this group (you can add a new citation under Bibliography):

No existing citations in Discussion Group

Wikify editor is a simple editor for wiki-style mark-up. It was written by MDPI for Sciforum in 2014. The rendering of the mark-up is based on Wiky.php with some tweaks. Rendering of mathematical equations is done with MathJax. Please send us a message for support or for reporting bugs.

Close menu

Please declare any conflicts of interest you may have with this paper, financial or otherwise.

I do not have a conflict of interest

I would like to declare a conflict of interest

Display my name on the website

Captcha

Renew

I accept the following conditions:

Comments must follow the standards of professional discourse and should focus on the scientific content of the article. Insulting or offensive language, personal attacks and off-topic remarks will not be permitted. Comments must be written in English. Preprints reserves the right to remove comments without notice. Readers who post comments are obliged to declare any competing interests, financial or otherwise.

* All users must log in before leaving a comment

Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.

Virtual Reality in Biology: Can We Become Virtual Naturalists?

Abstract

Keywords

Subject

Comments (1)