Contents 1 Introduction
As the understanding of bioinformatics and biodiversity grows, so must the tools that botanists require for field-work and research. Of particular importance is the ability to identify existing and new species in the field [27]. When botanists in the field need to identify a collected specimen or verify the existence of a new species, they initially consult their own personal knowledge and a paper field guide (Figure 1a). However, paper field guides are difficult to use, do not represent the full corpus of the specimen collection, and do not provide access to species samples (called vouchers). Thus, botanists must eventually borrow physical vouchers, with which to compare the specimens they collect, from museums and herbaria, such as the Smithsonian type specimen collection. Because of this, and the fact that vouchers are unique and fragile, the process of obtaining them is time-consuming. In short, botanical research is constrained by availability and access to necessary data. (a) Botanists gathering samples in the field. (b) View through a video see-though display of first prototype of the tangible augmented reality user interface.
