Mission Wildlife: An Augmented Reality Approach to Engaging People About Threats to Endangered Species at a Zoo

Abstract Mission Wildlife is a research collaboration between San Diego Zoo Global and the MIT Center for Civic Media to explore the potential for interactive technologies in conservation education. In particular, we used augmented reality (AR) to focus visitors’ attention towards survival threats to endangered species. The project was deployed during the 100th anniversary year (2016) of the San Diego Zoo. Visitors competed against each other to trigger 3D animations from animal signage in the zoo and shared results on social media to spread awareness about conservation issues. This case study demonstrates how AR can be tied to efforts to expand awareness of social issues.

Author Keywords Augmented reality; endangered species; zoo tech; civic engagement; social change; gamification.

ACM Classification Keywords H.5.1. Information interfaces and presentation: Multimedia Information Systems – Artificial, augmented, and virtual realities.

The 2nd workshop on NatureCHI - Unobtrusive User Experiences with Technology in Nature, at MobileHCI '17, September 04, 2017, Vienna, AustriaCopyright is held by the authors/owners.

Poseidon Hai-Chi Ho1 MIT Media Lab Cambridge, MA 02142, USA oi7@mit.edu

Gabriel Miller1 San Diego Zoo Global San Diego, CA 92112, USA gmiller@sandiegozoo.org

Margaret Yi-Ning Wang University of Queensland Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia margaret.wang@uq.net.au

Nika Haleftiras California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 91125, USA nhalefti@caltech.edu

Ethan Zuckerman MIT Center for Civic Media Cambridge, MA 02142, USA ethanz@media.mit.edu

Introduction The mission of modern zoos relates to the conservation of endangered species [1]. Populations in managed care can inform international fieldwork to rescue animals from extinction, and animals in zoos serve as ambassadors for their species. Thus, communicating to the public the status of wild animals, particularly threats to their survival, is crucial. With the vision to lead the fight against extinction, San Diego Zoo Global (SDZG) aims to rescue species whose dwindling populations are threatened. During the San Diego Zoo’s 100th anniversary, we aimed to engage the public about these issues using AR technology based on the eco-discovery AR-based learning model (EDALM) that develops a more positive emotional attachment to the experimental learning environment [2].

Observation Exhibit signage typically includes animals’ photographs, descriptions, endangered status, binomial names, interesting facts, and original habitats (Figure 1-3). Although replete with information, these signs are rarely read in full by visitors. We conducted observations at the Komodo Dragon exhibit for one hour with 500 visitors passing by; 76% of them stopped for more than 10 seconds in front of the exhibit, but fewer than one in ten examined the Komodo Dragon sign. None of them read the sign for more than one minute − most simply looked at the name of the animal. Since one of the functions of signage is to convey important information about species’ vulnerability to extinction, and since many people were not exposed to this information, we defined animal signs as our target for innovation.

Sample Analysis To test our first prototype, we chose 30 endangered species in the San Diego Zoo and catalogued the threats they are facing.

Table 1: Selected endangered species and their corresponding threats: A- Poaching, B- Wildlife Trafficking, C- Habitat Destruction, D- Habitat Degradation, E- Habitat Fragmentation.

Name Threat Name Threat

Giant Panda A, C Milky Stork A, D

Cheetah E Malayan Tapir E

Orangutan C Malayan Tiger A, B, D

Koala D Gorilla A, B, C

Cuvier's Gazelle D Siamang B, C

Fishing Cat A, C Tasmanian Devil D

Storm's Stork C, E Fiji Iguana B, C

Okapi A, D Kaiser Newt B, C

Gharial C African Lion A, E

African Elephant

A, E Flower Snake B

Chacoan Peccary

E Aruba island Rattlesnake

C

Brush Tailed Bettong

C Henkel's Leaf-tailed Gecko

B, C

Henkel's Leaf-tailed Gecko

B, C Indian Rock Python

C

Blue-crowned Laughingthrus

E African Slender-snouted Crocodile

A, C

Scaly-sided Merganser

C, D Chinese Crocodile Lizard

B, C

Figure 1: One of the signs near the Chinese Crocodile Lizard exhibit

Figure 2: One of the signs near the Tasmanian Devil exhibit

Figure 3: One of the signs near the African Slender-snouted Crocodile exhibit

Methodology We first explored Microsoft HoloLens [3] and Google Tango [4] as media for immersive mixed-reality experiences. However, to provide a more affordable and accessible experience, we ultimately deployed Mission Wildlife to iOS and Android platforms. This way, visitors could participate using tablets and smartphones. We designed two types of AR content to be triggered with this mobile app:

§ THREATS: For animals that are endangered, signs show specific threats to the species. For example, the Western Gorilla is threatened by poaching, habitat destruction and wildlife trafficking (Figure 4).

§ BEHAVIORS: For animals that are difficult to observe or generally inactive, signs trigger animation showing species-typical behaviors. For example, Komodo Dragons are rarely observed walking (Figure 5).

Design Process The implementation of this technical application is divided into three phases:

1. Data Collection and Classification

For better recognition quality, we took pictures of the animal signs from different orientations and under different lighting. We then classified these photos by the animals’ exhibits.

2. Model and Animation Configuration

We used the game engine Unity3D [5] as our main Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to model the behaviors and design the animations for different species. This allowed us to deploy the 3D-enabled

project into an Xcode project [6] for iOS devices and Android Package Kit (APK) [7] for Android devices.

3. Recognition, Tracking, and Displaying

We adopted the Vuforia Software Developer Kit (SDK) [8] in our Unity project to enable the AR functionalities of recognition and tracking for 2D image targets and 3D object targets. The Extended Tracking [9] function utilizes features of surrounding environments in the camera view to improve tracking performance and sustain tracking when the target is no longer in view.

Deployment The mobile application was released on July 15th 2016. We invited visitors to test this zoo game experience and collected their feedback. The visitors downloaded the mobile app to iOS/Android devices and attended an orientation (Figure 6) in which we briefly introduced the basic functions of the app and informed them of their roles as ‘Wildlife Detectives’. Visitors were divided into groups of two and were accompanied by videographers to document their journeys and assist with any technical problems. Each team was sent on a race to find specific threats to wildlife chosen by ‘rolling’ the AR cube/die, a 3D target with different conservation threats on each side (Figure 7). The aim of the game was to locate, trigger, and document/share 3D animations from the animal signs aligned with their selected threats.

The recap video of launch day can be found at:

https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/mission-wildlife

Figure 5: AR-driven Komodo Dragon model climbs out of its sign as a holographic animation

Figure 4: The mobile app triggers animated threats by recognizing the sign of the Western Gorilla

Figure 6: Mission Wildlife trainer gives an introduction orientation to participating visitors

Civic Engagement When considering civic engagement around threats to endangered species, a simple formula [10] can be applied. In this formulation, visitors will take action if the following is true:

PB + D > C

§ P: Probability that the visitor will impact the outcome

§ B: Benefit of a changed outcome to the visitor

§ D: Sense of civic Duty that the visitor feels from taking action on this issue

§ C: Cost (time/effort) of taking this civic action

We believe awareness can lead to empathy, and that empathy leads to action. Shifting attention to critical issues is difficult; therefore, we suggest a low-effort action (low Cost) with a high incentive (high Benefit) for visitors, with the objective of spreading awareness rather than solving the problem directly. The civic action we designed was as simple as taking a selfie with an endangered species and their holographic threats through the mobile app (Figure 8) and then uploading the selfies to the visitor’s social media with specific hashtags (e.g., #Koalas #AirPollution). The benefit (B) of this sharing action was that visitors had a certain probability (P) of receiving prizes for winning the game. Additionally, there was a sense of civic duty (D) to share information about extinction threats to remarkable wildlife. Finally, and importantly, the cost (time/effort: C) was minimal; taking and sharing hashtagged selfies (with an included AR threat) took as little as ten seconds.

Feedback and Challenges Mission Wildlife provided a new way to experience the zoo and disseminate information about endangered species – one that our users reported was ‘more engaging’ than viewing normal signage. The game encouraged participants to actively learn about conservation, and the AR experience offered a unique way to learn during physical play and interaction [11].

Visitors also suggested the following improvements:

1. Create a real-time, automatic scoring system to tabulate game results by the end of the competition.

2. Extend recognition distances, as the current camera-to-target distance is limited to less than 10 times the target width [12].

3. Embed a GPS-based zoo map in the app, since the zoo is too large for visitors to easily find all the targets.

Conclusion Technologies like AR offer new potential to inspire social campaigns; here we demonstrated that civic action (sharing AR content regarding threats to endangered species) can begin from compelling in-person digital experiences.

Future directions for this work include the following:

1. Creating a more complete game system allowing scoring, maps, and additional facts.

2. Implementing ways to allow visitors to continue their quests over multiple trips to the zoo.

3. Generate holograms based upon recognition of individual animals (Figure 9) rather than physical signs.

Figure 7: Visitors roll the threat cube to determine the path of their journey in the game system

Figure 8: Visitors take selfies with the endangered species and its threat in front of an exhibit

Figure 9: Animal-triggered hologram (illustration by Natalya Zahn)

Acknowledgements We sincerely appreciate the many anonymous staff and visitors who volunteered to participate in the testing, deployment, and documentation of Mission Wildlife.

References 1. World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. 2005.

Building a Future for Wildlife: The World Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Strategy. Retrieved June 27, 2015 from http://www.waza.org/files/webcontent/1.public_site/5.conservation/conservation_strategies/building_a_future_for_wildlife/wzacs-en.pdf

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10. William H. Riker and Peter C. Ordeshook. 1968. A Theory of the Calculus of Voting. The American Political Science Review, 62, 1: 25–42.

11. Sarah Webber, Marcus Carter and Wally Smith. Kids Need to Run Wild: Using Technology at the Zoo. In proc. of NatureCHI 2016 workshop at CHI 2016.

12. AlessandroB. 2014. How can I improve detection and tracking stability. Retrieved May 16, 2017 from https://developer.vuforia.com/forum/faq/how-can-i-improve-detection-and-tracking-stability