The PLANI Plant Animation Framework

This thesis presents the unique PLANI plant animation framework for animation using dynamic plant models along with three novel demonstrations of the use of the framework. A dynamic plant model is a computer-based representation of a plant that can be used to simulate or animate natural behaviors, such as moving to wind, responding to light, and responding to nutrient availability. The dynamic plant models used in the thesis are based on interdisciplinary research in plant biology, animation in computer graphics, and ontology. The PLANI framework guides the specification of both design time and runtime processes for plant animations. PLANI also provides a systematic approach to incorporating algorithms to support the simulation based on dynamic plant models. The framework utilizes four domains representing plant form, plant function, plant environmental effects, and the virtual world in which the generated plant resides. PLANI also provides plant specifications for animators who are designing plants for film and real-time animations, such as gaming. PLANI enables clear communication between experts in biology and computer science using well-defined terminology from plant ontologies. The use of plant ontologies also ensures that computer algorithms align with biological concepts. By presenting three demonstrations of the use of PLANI, this thesis provides evidence that the framework is flexible, comprehensive, and simple to use. The first demonstration of PLANI is the Plant Creator software system, which creates plant models and animations while interacting with a human user via a graphical user interface. This system incorporates the other two demonstrations as components. It also provides the ability to save and reload information about plant structure and taxonomy. The second demonstration of using PLANI is a method for incorporating the effects of wind on plant growth. The method was created by selecting objects from the four domains of PLANI framework and implementing the corresponding algorithms. There are currently no other published studies that consider the effects of wind on dynamic plant model growth in animation. The last demonstration of PLANI effectiveness is a method for animating plant colour change and growth with consideration of nutritional availability. Any deviation from the required nutrient concentration range influences a plant’s size, shape, and colour, by restricting the growth and changing the colour of various tissues. The example used here is a virtual wheat (Triticum) plant that is affected by the availability of nutrients, which provides added realism when used for animation. There are currently no other published methods for plant animation that consider nutritional availability effects on plant colour change and growth.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MSc)

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Computer Science

Grantor dc:publisher

Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Sturgeon, Tina Louise Mary

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hamilton, Howard J.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Vetter, Mary
• Yang, Boting
• Yang, Xue-Dong

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

https://doi.org/10.82465/3794

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uregina.scholaris.ca:10294/9269