Swat or Not? Identifying Insects in Virtual Reality

昆虫识别很困难。这对我们很重要，因为我们需要识别昆虫，以跟踪重要物种（例如传粉者或害虫）的丰度和分布的变化。这对其他动物也很重要。例如，喜欢昆虫的鸟类可能会把无害和可口的猎物（如食蚜蝇）与有毒或防御性的物种（如黄蜂或蜜蜂）混淆。这就是为什么自然选择倾向于模仿蝙蝠的进化--这些物种通过伪装成其他物种来避免被捕食。在这个项目中，我们的目标是通过开发一个沉浸式虚拟现实（VR）游戏，让公众可以遇到黄蜂和蜜蜂，以及它们的食蚜蝇模仿者，而不必担心被蜇伤，从而更好地理解物种识别的问题。通过游戏，志愿者们将学习如何识别重要的昆虫物种，并帮助我们探索拟态进化的想法。我们将使用真实的昆虫的高分辨率3D图像和尖端VR技术构建两个应用程序，一个用于物种识别培训，另一个用于拟态研究。我们将在当地的科学节上向学生和公众展示培训应用程序，并在实地课程中与大学生一起测试。我们将在一个简单的实验中试用研究应用程序，旨在测试视角如何影响志愿者区分黄蜂和食蚜蝇的能力。通过使用沉浸式和有趣的方法，我们希望吸引那些可能对昆虫持负面态度的观众。我们的长期目标是让公民参与昆虫学，并帮助他们获得所需的昆虫识别技能，以贡献有意义的数据，这些数据可用于科学研究，以了解气候变化和其他人类活动对生物多样性的影响。

Insect identification is difficult. This matters to us, because we need to identify insects in order to track changes in the abundance and distribution of important species, such as pollinators or pests. It also matters to other animals. For example, insect-loving birds can confuse harmless and palatable prey, such as hoverflies, with noxious or defended species, such as wasps or bees. This is why natural selection favours the evolution of Batesian mimics - species which seek to avoid predation by pretending to be something that they are not. In this project, we aim to understand the problem of species identification better by developing an immersive virtual reality (VR) game in which members of the public can encounter wasps and bees, and their hoverfly mimics, without fear of being stung. By playing the game, volunteers will learn how to identify important insect species, and help us to explore ideas about the evolution of mimicry.We will use high-resolution 3D images of real insects and cutting-edge VR technology to build two apps, one for training in species identification, and the other for use in research about mimicry. We will demonstrate the training app to school children and members of the public at a local science festival, and test it with university students on a field course. We will pilot the research app in a simple experiment designed to test how viewing angle can affect the ability of volunteers to distinguish between wasps and hoverflies. By using an immersive and playful approach, we hope to captivate an audience who might otherwise feel negatively towards insects. Our long-term goal is to engage citizens in entomology, and help them gain the insect identification skills they require to contribute meaningful data which can be used in scientific research seeking to understand the impacts of climate change and other human activities on biodiversity.