Mila Gajic - Conversations with Trees

Role: AR Designer (VR Lab Manager/Developer at the OSU Emerging Technology Studio)

Responsibilities: AR design + development, presenting the AR experience during events

Timeframe: June 2024 - Present

As the VR Lab Manager/Developer in the Emerging Technology Studio (ETS), I collaborated with Dr. Peter Chan (OSU Design) to build an interactive Augmented Reality (AR) experience to add to the installation of visual narratives "Conversations with Trees" created by Visual Communication Design students (Class of 2022 and Class of 2026). This event draws inspiration from two initiatives: "Conversation with Trees" facilitated by professor Chan, and "Being & Belonging: A Book About Generative Capacity" by Uday Dandavate from SonicRim. The project consists of three main components:

Installation: "Conversation with Trees”—Design students selected trees at the Oval (renowned OSU campus green-space) to study their forms and environmental significance. They created “A Biophilic Dialogue Between Nature and Design”, capturing emotional, social, political, and ecological aspects of their chosen trees, presented in 14-page accordion books. These books were exhibited during the 2024 Arbor Day Celebration on campus, promoting environmental responsibility and appreciation.

Interaction: Viewers can access an AR experience that allows them to interact with the 3D virtual map of the Oval. Digital leaves float around viewers, enhancing the essence of “place” and fostering inclusivity and connections.

Collaborative workshop: Facilitated to generate thought-provoking insights and inspire community conversations, the workshop component engaged people in discussions about nature's principles of harmony and coexistence, promoting interconnectedness.

Contributors:

Installation design: Peter Kwok Chan (OSU Design) | Workshop: Uday Dandavate (SonicRim) | Augmented Reality: Mila Gajic (OSU ETS) | Student Teams: Visual Communication Design (VCD) students from the VCD Class of 2022 and VCD Class of 2026 | Design Installation Team: Peter Kwok Chan, Noor Murteza, Taylor Olsen, Mark Celestina

Sponsor Organizations: Chadwick Arboretum & Learning Gardens at The Ohio State University, Sustainability Institute at Ohio State, Department of Design at The Ohio State University

Augmented Reality interactive component:

In addition to the "Conversations with Trees" installation containing the students' visual narratives on accordion books, visitors have access to an Augmented Reality (AR) experience that enables them to directly interact with objects related to the installation themes. In this AR experience, visitors use the Meta Quest 3 headset in which they still see the installation and the people around them. However, their physical surroundings are also be populated with digital content - floating tree leaves. All digital leaves are from the trees located around the Oval, which brings a fragment of the Oval to audiences who have not been to Ohio State campus, and it also further situates the installation into its place of inspiration even when it’s presented in other places.

The digital leaves float in the space surrounding the user, positioned at varying heights to increase accessibility of the experience. Viewers can reach and grab the individual leaves, and they can release them in the space around them, setting in motion other leaves as they collide with one another. This interactive component aims to enhance the existing installation concept by bringing the location (The Oval) that inspired this project closer to the wider audiences.

AR experience concept images:

Mockup of the AR experience within the installation space

While developing the Augmented Reality experience, the design team expanded the original concept to enable users to see each of the trees and their location in the Oval. In addition to the leaves floating around them, viewers now see a 3D virtual map of the Oval trees. Once the viewer steps within the designated responsive area, they can see numbered labels and names of each tree displayed, and they can use these numbers to match each tree to its corresponding leaf around them. Both the digital leaves and the Oval trees on the map are interactive, allowing viewers to pick them up and make them bigger for better visualization and play.

View of the AR experience in the Meta Quest 3 headset: