[S17] - Plantiverse XR

Inspiration

Plant parenthood can be tricky, especially for beginners. We were inspired by the idea of using XR and AI to simplify plant care, helping users identify plants, track their needs, and remember essential care instructions in a more immersive way. The goal was to combine technology with nature to create a seamless and fun experience for plant lovers.

What it does

Plantiverse is an XR application that uses AI to assist users in taking care of their plants. By using images, the app can identify the plant species, determine the best placement, diagnose potential sickness, and offer care instructions. These instructions can be placed on cards and viewed permanently in the XR space, where users can create plant cards with concise care tips. The app also tracks watering schedules, providing reminders and a visual slider to indicate when plants need to be watered again. All of this is delivered to you by a cute plant avatar, whose tone can be customized however you wish, from straightforward to sassy.

How we built it

We built Plantiverse using Unity and the Meta SDK for XR interactions, integrating AI (ChatGPT) using AI Kit: Image Capture for Meta Quest by roberto@blackwhale.dev.

Challenges we ran into

Our main challenge was realizing partway through that an application called "Water me hard" was recently developed, with a similar concept, so we had to pivot. Another challenge was figuring out a reason for the user to want to enjoy this experience in XR, and not just using a mobile phone, for example. On a more technical level, we encountered issues with using the OpenAI API, as the provided key didn't seem to work, and creating our own was temporarily blocked by a bug.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud of successfully integrating AI to provide real-time, accurate plant care advice. We believe that the app is both useful, entertaining, and cute. The app’s ability to provide permanent care reminders in XR is a feature we would like to use in our daily lives.

What we learned

We learned how to effectively integrate AI with XR to create a dynamic user experience. Balancing technical complexity with ease of use was key. We also learned technical skills, like using OpenAI's API, and video editing with Canva.

What's next for Plantiverse XR

We plan to expand Plantiverse by incorporating more advanced AI features, such as soil health analysis and automatic pest detection. Long-term, we aim to integrate smart device support for automatic soil moisture measurement and establish partnerships with local plant shops to connect plant sellers with buyers, fostering a more connected and supportive community for plant lovers.