Wild edible plants have historically been useful during periods of drought, cold weather, or floods, but opportunities for their utilization are now diminishing. Concurrently, the number of people possessing knowledge about these plants is decreasing. Utilizing wild edible plants carries risks, such as mistaking toxic plants for edible ones, or health issues arising from overconsumption. While there are articles, websites, and books dedicated to wild edible plants, they often require specialized expertise to be fully understood. Learning plant identification is most effective when done in the field through direct observation of the plants. However, time constraints and geographical limitations can make acquiring these skills challenging. Therefore, we have decided to create a virtual space where anyone can easily learn about wild edible plants anytime and from any location.

In this study, we replicated the Hatoyama Campus of Tokyo Denki University and the experimental farm of college of Agriculture, Tamagawa University in a virtual space. This was done to provide information about the wild edible plants found in these actual locations. Initially, a full-dome spherical image of the designated area was captured. Subsequently, the plants inhabiting this area were identified, and their key identifying features were photographed from various angles. We conducted a comprehensive survey of these identified plants, gathering information crucial for the utilization of wild edible plants. This included details on morphological characteristics, ecology, harvesting protocols, consumption techniques, and medicinal properties. Based on this information, we compiled a guidebook.

To evaluate the effectiveness of this guidebook in facilitating knowledge acquisition, we developed a quiz with questions pertaining to its content. In the virtual space, we placed icons at the locations corresponding to where the plants actually grow. These icons contain links to the plant photos, guidebook pages, and quiz web pages. Visitors to the virtual space can learn about wild edible plants by interacting with these icons, which provide access to photos, the guidebook, and quizzes distributed throughout the virtual environment.